David Nakhla 0:00

This is David Knockler with the OPC Committee on Diacon Ministries. We're bringing this to you as part of a series of special episodes of the Reformed Deacon. These episodes consist of the audio of the many plenaries and workshops presented at the fourth OPC National Diaconal Summit held in Wheaton, Illinois in June 2022. It's our desire that deacons who were not able to attend the summit or those who simply missed one of the many wonderful workshops offered will benefit from this practical content. If you find this episode especially invigorating, just consider sharing it with your fellow deacons. If it's an episode that's particularly suited to the work of your diaconate, consider watching the video version of this presentation together with your fellow deacons and discussing it. The videos can be found on opcccdm.org. And now I hope you enjoy this episode.

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I don't have as many good stories about uh Derek as I do uh some of the other fathers in the church, but he is a father in the church. Uh he's a mentor to me. Um he uh moved with his wife and young son to uh Midtown Manhattan in 1999. Uh established and work there. Uh still active to this day. Uh 2011, he went to Westminster. He got a master's in historical theology. He also completed his PhD in historical theology. Um served at uh Tent Press in Philadelphia. Uh should be familiar to at least some of you. It's a very famous, long-standing uh congregation there in Philadelphia. He uh served as a minister there for four years. Uh PCA uh denomination. He has recently in the last, I guess it's been a little over two years now. Uh joined the OPC and he's our senior pastor at Tesco here in Wheaton. Um this brother's a joy. Um he is a a mentor in terms of his bringing the church forward, not just encouraging or pushing, he's really he's dragging it forward, he's pulling it forward, but he's doing it in very, very thoughtful ways, in strikingly thoughtful ways. So, brother, um, thank you for coming, and uh uh we welcome you where we love you.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Thank you so much. Well, gents, it's fantastic to be with you all. This really is a great joy for me and uh a true privilege. Um I'm so grateful for the work and ministry of the diaconate. Uh, it just plays such a vital role in the life of the church and your service unto God uh into the community and is has such a significant relationship with the session in your local church and ministry alongside the elders. So before I get into my talk this afternoon, let's let's bow our heads in prayer. Almighty Fat uh Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, would you be with us now as we consider this needed topic of the diaconate in relation to the stranger? How we ask that you would give us wisdom, insight, and understanding as we seek to serve you with our all and our neighbor as ourselves. Would you be with us by your Holy Spirit in and through your word? In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, as you should know, we are here to discuss the topic of uh ministry to the stranger. If that's new to you, that there's an exit door there or there. If you are stranger to the topic, I encourage you to stay. It's good to have you. Um's eye-opening about the topic of stranger, if you simply do a Google search uh around the word, in and around the word stranger, all kinds of things pop up, from movies to literature to a variety of definitions and much more. In fact, one of the results that comes up is a is what's known as depersonalization disorder. It's a health, mental health disorder. It's also known as DPD. Symptoms include feeling the feeling of being detached from your own thoughts and feelings, of looking at yourself from the outside of your body, and of being a stranger to yourself. Among other results that we find in this simple Google search are non-for-profits whose mission is welcoming or welcoming welcoming, I'll get there, welcoming the neighbor or the stranger to the shores of America, that being by way of the immigrant and the refugee. Then there's also the Common Pinterest post that is a quote by an anonymous author, that's sadly ironic, in fact, which simply says, it's amazing how fast someone can become a stranger. Loneliness today, as psychologists in America often comment and note, has become a pandemic in our society. It's a cloak that so many struggle to take off. This afternoon, I want us first to consider a theological overview of the church's ministry to the stranger, a kind of big picture philosophy of ministry of sorts. My aim is that this theology will inform and undergird all practical outworkings and expressions in whatever context you may find yourselves, whether your congregation is situated within an urban environment, a rural community, or a suburban area. And to add another layer of distinction, so many of us come from differing backgrounds and minister in quite different cultures. And so what we tend to find is that cookie-cutter approaches to this kind of ministry, they tend to benefit some of us, but not all of us. And thus it's my hope today that in considering a number of these biblical truths, that we might be shaped by them and in turn be informed or inform our practices and our policies as you go home and outwork these in your unique particular contexts. And so after a theological or an initial theological consideration, we're going to consider on the back half of my talk four practical areas. The first is seeking opportunities for the gospel with those who are desiring assistance from us. The second is some appropriate policies for interacting with those who are outside of the church who are wanting help. The third is that we'll look at utilizing community resources in the areas in which we live. And fourthly, is how do we resist becoming cynical in our ministry to the stranger? I'm hoping that we will have sufficient time. There is a lot of wisdom in this room. I would love us to be able to pull the wisdom in this room, have a little bit of time at the end, and garner, particularly around the topics of community resources and policies and procedures, so that we can have, we can garner not just the wisdom that comes, hopefully, from myself, but actually from so many who are in the room. And so, firstly, let's have a look at a theological consideration, first point of two main points, that being the ministry to the stranger. Now, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it defines a stranger as someone who is unknown and unfamiliar, as in a foreigner, a resident alien, a person with whom you or I are not acquainted with. And we find in Scripture that there are more than 60 instances where the word stranger is mentioned, though the term in fact is used in a number of differing ways. What's interesting to find is that the first mention of the word stranger in our English Bible is found in Genesis chapter 42. We find Joseph, who is in Egypt, he's been elevated to the prominent place as governor in the land by Pharaoh, is there the time in which the author portrays the context is when Egypt and the surrounding regions have uh or are experiencing a great famine. Joseph's brothers go down to Egypt. They are going because they're in search of food. They've heard that grain is for sale down there. And you might remember that Joseph had in fact been sold by his brothers into slavery into the hands of the Midianite traders for just twenty shekels of silver. And now his brothers are about to meet him for the first time since sinning against him. Quite an occasion. The story is simply this if you wanted grain, you'd have to get it from the governor. He oversaw the entire process, and the governor was none other than Joseph. Now here's what's interesting. Genesis 42 and verse 7 reads as follows. Where do you come from? He says. Now let's look at Christ and the stranger. Please turn in your Bibles if you have one to Matthew 25. We're going to read from verse 31. If you don't have a Bible with you, that's okay. In the handout on the third page, you'll find Matthew 25. We're going to read from verse 31 through to verse 46. Now Jesus says, when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you? Or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick and in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked, and you did not clothe me, sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will also answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and thirst or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Now, in ancient Greek, if you were a xenophobic individual, you were literally a stranger fearer. When we compare Joseph's actions and his words to Christ's words, we find an unbelievable contrast. There is a remarkable juxtaposition between the two. Joseph treated his brothers as strangers. He spoke roughly to them. He was quite unwelcoming. He showed them no brotherly love, no neighborly love at this stage of his interactions with them. Whereas Jesus, on the other hand, says, we are to welcome strangers, something that the religious leaders of his day failed to do. Four times Jesus speaks about welcoming the stranger in Matthew 25. Four times he repeats the acts of compassion, of feeding the hungry, of giving food or drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the prisoner, each reflective of a life that has been transformed by the gospel. See, Jesus shows us how to treat the stranger, the xenos. How we are to do that. We are to welcome the stranger. More specifically, we are to be hospitable to them. We're to invite them in as a guest. We're to bring them near. In other words, we are not to treat the stranger as a stranger. But rather, we are to welcome the stranger, bring them near to us, we're to show hospitality to them and not keep them at arm's length. We to see the stranger through the lens of Christ. And so if we step back for a moment and we consider the very nature of the gospel, we will see that in the gospel enemies are reconciled to God. The alienated are brought near, and the strangers to the covenant are made sons of God, the Father, by the Spirit of adoption. This is the mark of the gospel. And dear friends, if you are in Christ, this was true of you, and true of me. I mean, listen to Paul's words as he speaks to the Ephesian church. Chapter 2. Remember that you were at one time separated from Christ, alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in this world. See, prior to being in Christ, you and I were alienated. We were strangers to the covenant of grace, strangers to the mercy and the peace of God that is found in Christ alone. We were alienated from God. We were alienated from his people. But now that we are in Christ and have communion with one another in virtue of our union with Christ, we are no longer strangers in this regard. Paul tells us that you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Now, having been at one stage a stranger to the covenants of grace, or the covenant of grace, the covenants of promise, we are now strangers and exiles on earth. The label of being a stranger has not been removed from us, you could say. We are sojourners and resident aliens within the world, as Peter tells us, and for the simple reason is that we are now citizens of heaven. In summary, we who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. We have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry abba father, and if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. This is the marvel of the gospel, a marvel that we should never become blase of. Enemies and strangers have been brought near, quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit. We've been justified, adopted, sanctified, and welcomed as sons. We've been forgiven, cleansed, made new. All the work of God in His grace and in his mercy. So what's our thesis today? We are to treat the stranger as a neighbor while we pray that they become part of the family of God through the gospel of Christ. We are to treat the stranger as a neighbor while we pray that they become part of the family of God through the gospel of Christ. And so this afternoon, I want us in this first main section to consider the topic through the lens of three words. The first is welcome that moves us to neighbor that moves us to the family of God. And so let's have a look at welcome. You know, as former strangers ourselves, we are to welcome strangers into our midst. How dare we be so arrogant to view ourselves in a way that is not by the mercy and grace of God. We are to welcome strangers into our midst, to show them hospitality, just as we find in Hebrews. The author of Hebrews says, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. See, the goal is to extend hospitality to the stranger, to welcome them in. The goal is not simply to distribute some kind of handout only to them so that they then go on their way. That is not the goal. Instead, our goal is for them to be our guest and to entertain them hospitably. And as our guest, we offer them or extend an open invitation to stay and to hear the gospel, to share with them the best treasure that we have. The treasure that they need for their greatest need. With this approach, we have the opportunity to show them our love for one another. That we are disciples of Christ. And that there is a difference between us and the world. Our welcome is extended to all strangers, those who are strangers to us and those who are strangers to the covenant, so that the free offer of the gospel might be proclaimed to all. Friends, we cannot reduce our understanding of the stranger solely to the man or woman who come and knock on our door asking for food or for money. If we reduce that understanding of a stranger to that picture, we have failed to understand the biblical understanding of who that stranger is. We are to welcome any and all who may be strangers to the gospel. Anyone, as you and I once were, strangers to the gospel. And the question is simply this how long do we do it? And at what price? Well what's fascinating about Matthew 25 is that Jesus doesn't tell us. He just doesn't tell us, well, do it for so many days at this price, after it gets above this, it gets a little too costly, then just stop. He doesn't say that. He simply said, You welcomed me. You showed me hospitality. Let's look at our next point, which is treating strangers as neighbors and not as strangers. So under the point neighbor, if you treat a stranger as a stranger rather than as a neighbor, you automatically distance yourself from them. Keeping a stranger at arm's length might be easier, it might be far more convenient, but it is not the way of Christ. It just is not the way of our Savior. Who calls us to welcome the stranger in and to make them a guest, showing them the dignity and And treating them as valuable, as those who have been made in the image of our God. See, strangers by definition are foreign to us, they are largely unknown to us, often nameless. We don't know the story of their life, it is largely hidden to us. But here's the thing: most strangers don't want to be known as a stranger. Most strangers want to be a neighbor. There's a big difference, friends, between the two. A very big difference. You might remember in Luke chapter 10, the story of the lawyer. He comes seeking to justify himself in front of our Savior. And he asks the question, and who is my neighbor? What's interesting is Jesus' response is not simply limited to describing who the neighbor is. Jesus goes far further. He shows us how we are to relate to our neighbor. See, Jesus concludes the story that the Samaritan, here it is, I quote, proved to be a neighbor. The good Samaritan proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers. And thus in Luke chapter 10, what we find is a twofold characterization of a neighbor. The first is seen in the Great Commandment: love your neighbor as yourself. The second is Jesus' emphasis in the parable, which is on being neighborly to the one who is in need. What we find is that the good Samaritan, he acted in a neighborly fashion, and thus he fulfilled the law of God, the great commandment. Whereas both the Levite and the priest did not prove themselves to be neighbors. They passed by the men, left for dead. They had no compassion, no compassion for him, no evidence of genuine love, and thus didn't fulfill the royal law of God. Their religious faith and their practice was nullified. As James says, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. He is not saying that, that we are saved by our works. What he is simply saying is that good works, being neighborly, are fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith, as our confession says. They are an outward expression of an inward reality, a heart that is transformed by the saving power of the Holy Spirit, which was not true of the Levite or of the priest. And so we are to treat the stranger, the Zenos, the man left for dead, as a neighbor, and to do it with compassion. And just as Jesus makes clear in the parable, it is often quite costly, very inconvenient. It's sacrificial. It calls us to go above and beyond. It's impossible to neighbor someone well without compassion. And yes, I am using the word neighbor as a verb. It's impossible to neighbor someone well without genuine compassion. Without true compassion, they will remain a stranger to you. Even though they are actually your neighbor by way of proximity. And in that sense, they will be both a neighbor, but simultaneously a stranger, when we are to bring those who are strangers to us and love them as neighbors, as we offer them the gospel of salvation that they so desperately need. And so the question that we need to ask is who in fact is our neighbor? Well, quite simply, it's anyone and everyone around us. Our neighbors are not simply those who happen to live next door to us or those who happen to be in the same socioeconomic demographic as you might be. A neighbor is certainly not someone who is limited to those who you can easily identify your life with. It's everyone around us. Our neighbor is the are are folk like the elderly, the homeless, the college student, the prisoner, the immigrants, the poor, the hungry, the rich man who has so much but has so little and is desperately lonely. The neighborer includes every one of us. And so although many folk around us might in fact be strangers to us, we are to treat them as neighbors, being sensitive to their needs, and caring for them in love, and doing so with compassion. Paul says to the church in Rome, he says, love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. You see, loving your neighbor as yourself is consequent to loving the Lord your God with your all. To love the stranger, your neighbor, is an overflow of your love for God. Who has made every man, woman, and child in his image. And this is an order that we find reflected in the Great Commandment. We must get the order correct. Our love for God will overflow in our love for neighbor. A love for neighbor without a love for God is dry and dead. And if you are in Christ, it will become dry. You will not minister in the compassion of God. You will not have the requisite grace or mercy or hearts of Christ as we tend to those around us with the compassion of our Savior. And so, as we find in all of Scripture, the details, even of the order within the Great Commandment, are so vital for us in our ministry to the stranger. What we also find is that the order within the Great Commandment is in fact a reflection of how man is to live within God's good creation. We're to love him first and to love those around us. And so, what we also find in the scriptures is that you and I are to be a blessing. It's what you and I have been called to be. We are in fact being called to be a blessing. Peter was one of the eleven disciples, and some of you might be saying, well, he was one of the twelve. Well, I'm talking about in the post-resurrection life of Christ before he ascends into heaven. Judas Iscariot has committed suicide. Matthias has not been brought in as one of the twelve. And so, as one of the eleven, Peter hears the great commission from the words of his Savior. What's fascinating is in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 9, he says the following. But on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you might obtain a blessing. Bless, for to this you were called. And this is a significant part of our ministry. It's a priestly function. You might remember in the chapter before in 1 Peter chapter 2, is that Peter describes the church, the people of God, as a priesthood of all believers. And in calling the calling to be a blessing, is in fact simply viewed as the other side of the great commission of go therefore and make disciples of all nations. We are to be a blessing. Abraham, the father of our faith, was blessed to be a blessing to the ends of the earth. We're to proclaim the good news of Christ and reflect his grace and deeds or and mercy within our deeds. And so wherever we are, and whoever we come into contact with, it should be our aim to be a blessing, whether that be in your home, in the workplace, the gym, the local food pantry, or to the stranger who knocks at your church door looking for some physical assistance. And so in summary, although many around us might in fact be strangers to us, we are to treat them as neighbors in love. We want to welcome the stranger in hospitality as our guest by loving them as ourselves, by being a blessing to them, so that in the mercy of God they might see lives transformed by the gospel and become part of the family through the life-transforming word of God. The movement is from welcome to neighbor to family. We welcome them to our table to sup with us, though we do not yet welcome them to the table of the Lord. They do not yet have access to that table. They are not yet part of the covenant household of God, but in fact are at that stage strangers to the covenant of promises. And so this picture of how we minister to the stranger is in fact a reflection of the heart of God that is seen in the gospel. We are not to have a pragmatic approach to the stranger. Our ministry to them must be informed by the scriptures. And this understanding should be basic to our diaconal policies and our procedures by which we consider our ministry to the stranger, whether that be to someone who knocks on our front door in asking for food or otherwise. Paul is very, very clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. We can have the right policies and procedures in place, dear brothers. We can have every eye dotted, every T crossed. If someone looked at your manual, they would be amazed. But if we do so without love, we are but noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. Without love, we are absolutely nothing. In fact, we are no different to the Levite or the priest who lacked true compassion and so walked on and left the man for dead. So that's a philosophy of ministry of sorts, in terms of a big picture understanding of how we might minister to the stranger as informed by Scripture. I want to have a gear change here and move to our the second half, and that being practical areas, and these being four. The first is seeking opportunities for the gospel through acts of mercy. So we've already defined who the stranger is, who our neighbor is, and so let's narrow the scope now within our diaconal context to consider those folk who are outside of church membership to whom we are to show physical or tangible acts of mercy. You know, for many today in the church, outreach, your outreach ministry or your evangelism program is in fact seen to be quite separate from your mercy ministry. Outreach is said to be, it's to involve the proclamation of the word in which we do apologetics, we share our faith with a friend over coffee or a colleague around a water cooler, or even as an outreach event. Whereas on the other hand, what is said to be seen as mercy is in fact involves the compassion of Christ by touching the social and the physical well-being and needs of a person. But I'll say this is that if mercy ministries are divorced from the central mission of the church, which is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, then not only will mission creep set in within each one of our churches, but we might lose the doctrinal distinctives of the gospel as well. Outreach will become deformed and in the end pitted against doctrine, mercy against evangelism, acts against words, when the teachings of our Christ and of our Savior and the missions of Christ both came from his mouth. My encouragement where possible is simply this. See mercy as outreach. See mercy as outreach. And thus our front-footed acts of kindness and compassion are infused with gospel intentionality. The mission of the church is something that we live and breathe, and so is something far more than a handful of event-based programs that we might run in our churches. It's far, far more than that. If we see mercy solely through the lens of a needy person who comes and knocks on our front door, then our mercy ministry will likely be exclusively reactive, limited to handouts when opportunities for the gospel are all around us every day. We're to be a people that are marked by the Great Commission and a people who are marked by the Great Commandment, who love our God with our all and our turn our neighbor as ourself, which finds expression within this fallen world where we are to go and make disciples of neighbors, both near and far. I want to use an illustration or the mercy ministry of a church that I served in, at 10th Presbyterian and Church in Philadelphia, as a practical model. It's simply one model of many, but it's one I know relatively well. A church that I used to serve at. Now, at 10th, what's typically classified or categorized under mercy is in fact seen as outreach. And so the ministry to our homeless neighbors is one of outreach. So too is the ministry to the prison inmates. It's one of outreach. To the nursing residents, to the immigrants and the refugees in need of legal aid and provision. Even the ESL classes that are offered are seen as that of outreach, though there certainly is a strong mercy component to all of these. The same is true of our ministry to the deaf or international students that come our way. And there's a significant international student ministry at 10th, as well as the churches outreach to Hispanic folk who are in Southern Phil in South Philadelphia. And it's here we can see that these lines become somewhat blurred. Mercy and outreach, just as we find in the scriptures. The lines aren't neatly cut and dried. What is outreach and what is mercy? It's seldom that way. In fact, many of Jesus' acts of compassion and miracles were signs of the kingdom of God, pointed to Christ as their only savior, the savior of their soul. Brothers, I know we all know this so well. But as Christians, we are interested in the whole person. Not simply the immediate need for a handout. We are interested in the soul of this individual. Do they know Christ? Have they found the mercy of the gospel that comes through the shed blood of Jesus Christ? And so, in the light of our session today, we have to find ways in which we remove the strangeness from the person and see the person themselves who has been created in the image of God. We need to see their story, understand their hurts, their needs, their loneliness, the way in which they've been sinned against, to the point of becoming homeless, or sinned against to the point of becoming divorced, or even widowed when their spouse has committed suicide. And all this has changed, radically changed the circumstances in their life. And it's so easy to say it's your fault when someone comes to your door. But we have to remove the strangeness from them, listen to their story, discern what's true from that which is a web of lies that is spun with the intent of getting some money. But we have to find ways to get to know and to love the person who has been orphaned, who has been a prisoner, an immigrant, or a poor neighbor who is simply looking for bread because they don't have any. Where possible, our goal is to build relationship which is costly, to welcome them in, to be hospitable to them. And inevitably, in time, this lends itself to opportunities to share the gospel with them. There is a natural marriage of outreach and mercy. In a simple handout and letting them walk out the door, it is challenging to be a display of the gospel to them or to offer them in words the gospel. Often it's a great challenge. But in building relationships, in being hospitable, welcoming them, that's what Jesus is talking about. It lends itself for opportunities for them to see the love of Christ in action, displayed amongst your churches, amongst the members of your church, and gives you an opportunity to pray for them, to share the gospel with them. A few practical points. Invite them to your per your church picnic, to a small social gathering like volleyball or frisbee or a barbecue, depending on the per person and the appropriateness of the event. You don't want to invite a neighbor who has recently been widowed and who is elderly to the young guy's game of pick-up basketball. But what you can do is you can invite them to the woman's Bible study or to the spring tea. Invite them to church or invite them into your home. In New York City, I was a pastor there for 11 years. We saw quite a number of self-professed, at the time, atheists who came to faith over time. It was a remarkable thing to see. And they were just included in our social events. They just wanted to come and hang. New York can be a very lonely place. There are so many people there, most of them are away from home. They miss home. And they talk about where they're from as being home, and so New York is not home. And so, as a church, one of the things that we did is we wanted our community, our church, our congregation to be means of which folk can feel at home. And so these atheists, a number of them over different years, just started coming to the various social events, picnics in the in Central Park, throwing frisbee with us, or whatever it might be. And after a while, they started coming to church. After a while, they noticed just by hanging with us something different about us. They saw the love for one another. They saw the way that we love God. They saw how this love for God and His love for us made a difference in our life. And they wanted Christ. Do you know the ones that I can remember now from those days quite a while ago? I left there in 2010, or 2011, are still walking with Christ today. Still going to a gospel proclaiming church. Love Christ. I married some of those folk to believers in our church. And now they have kids. They're walking well with Christ. It's just wonderful. That's not a story unique to me. Probably many of us have seen that. And if you haven't prayed, God will do it. You know, one couple at Bethel, just down the road where I serve, reached out to an Iranian mother and her two children and loved them. One of the children was called Muhammad. They were immigrants to the states. And this couple would drive to the other side of the city. Incredibly inconvenient to them. And go and pick them up on a Sunday. Bring them to church. They enrolled the two children in our summer VBS program that's known as Nature Camp. They invited them to our monthly fellowship lunch after church. They prayed with them. They celebrated with them when they recently became naturalized citizens. And today, this Iranian American family worships at a gospel proclaiming church right next to their home. They came to faith. They were strangers to us. This couple were not officers, or the man was not an officer in our church. They were ordinary people changed by the love of God, reached out inconveniently to a Muslim family that now love Jesus. Paul says in Romans 12, do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Brothers, we have so much in Christ. So much. Christ's ministry was animated from beginning to end by compassion. Just do a word search in your Bible. Compassion is a very helpful word when we consider mercy ministry. See, the word compassion originates in the Latin meaning to suffer with. And there is a coming alongside when you suffer with. A coming alongside the stranger in love, to love them as yourself, which necessarily eliminates any top-down approach that hinders the proclamation of the gospel to them. It gets in the way of the opportunity to share with them the faith that we sh that we have. And sadly, today there are a lot, I mean a lot of people, that do not expect the church to be the church when they go to it. Just in Chicagoland right now, there are thousands upon thousands of believers in the last five years due to fallouts, due to men in ministry that fell in sin. Those churches have lost thousands, and many of those people are nowhere today. They are nervous of the church, and one of the most disarming things that the church can do today is just reflect the teaching of Jesus. To be gentle and loving, forgiving and gracious, kind and humble, sacrificial and generous. Where our word is our word and we love not our lives unto death. People are watching, friends. People are watching. And many of us don't even know it. You know, the church in the West, I think Craig said this morning, during the time of COVID, we did not do well. We thought we would do better than we did. And many of us in our churches, mine included, were greatly challenged. We did not do as well as we thought we would. The world is watching. They're looking for Christ. They're hungry for him. It feels a whiten to harvest. And in this ever-increasingly post-Christian context that many of us find ourselves, even in such a place like Wheatum, there are too many stories of folk being hurt by the church. When we're to be a safe place, we're to offer water, springs of living water in a desert place. Every interaction with a stranger in need gives us an opportunity to pray for them, to read scripture with them, and to bear testimony of the work of God in your life. And so let's move to appropriate policies, another practical area, appropriate policies for seeking aid from those who are outside of the church. And let's just be honest right up front, that not that we haven't been honest this far, but uh that uh the ministry to the poor can be exceedingly challenging. Can be very challenging at times. Churches are frequently seen as soft targets, where well-scripted sob stories are manufactured to loosen the pocket strings of the naive. I got some background music. Thank you. Now the issue is not whether or not we help people, but rather how do we help them? You know, in chatting with David Apple, some of you might know him. He used to be the, he's retired now, was the Minister of Mercy at 10th. When I chatted with him recently, he said a lot of our considerations in fact pertain to limits. Who, when, why, how, how much, when is enough, or many of the questions that we face, as well as others. Now, here's what's interesting: Acts chapter 6. First deacons are installed in the church, they needed to have the following prerequisites. They were to be of good repute, full of the Spirit, and of wisdom. There just simply isn't a neatly circumscribed diaconal handbook in the scriptures that give us an explanation for any and every kind of difficulty or ministry to the stranger in need that will come your way. What we do have is we have the Holy Spirit. What we do have is his wisdom, so that our actions are ordered in the light of nature and the Holy Scriptures, so that the indwelling illumination or the inward illumination of the Spirit, by it we might gain wisdom and knowledge and insight and discernment and understanding and prudence. This isn't a cop-out, friends. I'm gonna give you some practical music. That's one way to get rid of it. Now, this isn't a cop-out in terms of saying, well, there's no practical policies or procedures. What I am noting is simply this. We have what is basic to the office. If you don't have that, good repute, full of the spirit and wisdom, you shouldn't be a deacon. That's a part of the qualifications of being a deacon. If you're a deacon, praise the Lord. People have recognized that of you. So you have some of the basics already. I mean, our form of government in our in our book of church order simply says this. Those cha chosen to this office, speaking about deacons, should be of great faith, exemplary lives, honest repute, brotherly love, warm sympathies, and sound judgment. Take just the last three qualities brotherly love, warm sympathies, which simply means whatever affects one person affects you. That's what it means to be sympathetic to someone. That's part of what's in our form of government, of how we are to be, how deacons are to be. And then have sound judgment. And so when you consider matters, you already have a supernatural gifting and enabling in your life. Now, can we learn from one another? Absolutely. But we start there. We don't start with the policies and procedures. The policies and procedures are practical outworkings of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our life and the wisdom that He has given us. And so let's have a look at uh a few of these that might make its way into your policies and procedures. This certainly is not exhaustive. You might like, uh there might be one or two that you might disagree. There are there are uh churches in the OPC that have slightly differing views in terms of what is included or how they go about doing that. That's absolutely fine. You need to work out uh as a diaconate, possibly even in relation with the session of your church, in accordance with your context and your needs, what goes in your in your policies and procedures book. So my first point is simply this have one. You need to have one. If you don't have one, don't feel guilty, it's okay, but go home. Go home and work one out, put one into place, work it in your among your board of deacons. Um, if you do have one, don't let it collect dust. Use it, update it, keep improving it, even include some uh examples of very difficult um situations that you've experienced. This will be very helpful for men who come onto the diaconate who are not deacons now, as they read through not only some of the policies, but some of the situations. You can redact the names, etc., in such a way that it's an opportunity for them to learn from you men. Number three is don't give out money. Whether cash or check. Just don't give out money. Number four is do number three. Just don't give out money. Number five is don't give to someone who's currently under the influence of alcohol or of drugs. Number six, if someone becomes belligerent with you, remove yourself. Find safety if it gets to that level. Call for help. Number seven, remember, almost no request is so urgent that it cannot wait for a deacon to respond via a call, no matter how much the person in front of you is pressing. Almost no matter is that urgent. If you are in some third world country, that's different. But in America, in Wheaton, Illinois, almost no situation cannot wait 24 hours. If you do have a policy that enables one deacon, because it's unlikely to have two deacons at the church at the same time when the stranger walks and knocks on your door asking, if you do have a policy that permits a deacon to interact on that rare occasion, in the moment, then make sure that you have clear guidelines for that. Now many churches will not even permit one deacon to act on their own. Needs to be two. But if your church goes that way and your diaconate goes that way, make sure you have clear procedures in terms of names and addresses and money or the coupons that were given out and the time of day, and then make sure you make a call to another of the deacons or your diaconal chair. But work that out with your with your local church or your local diaconates. Then have an updated list of community resources and support services to cover a wide range of needs. That is very helpful. Many organizations within your community are going to be able to serve them in ways that you are simply not going to be able to do. So, for example, we've got three areas. There could be more. One is medical, the other is counseling, and the other is physical needs. Under medical, that would include hospitals. So here, on our policies and procedures manual, in there, you've got an out you've got a handout that you can give to them that lists the hospitals that are close by, telephone numbers, addresses, etc., GPs, the closest ER, dental, special needs, etc. Under counseling, there's uh do you have a list of Christian counselors, Christian psychologists, psychiatrists, drug and alcohol centers or counselors, legal aid counseling, such as uh administered justice, I'll touch on that a little later, financial counsel, occupational counsel for them. And then under physical, what about food? There are a lot of resources around us, Christian and non-Christian, that can help folk with food. You don't have to be burdened by the need to take care of all of these people. Sometimes that that um that that that uh manner of operation can actually become quite crushing on a church. Use the the resources that are available to you in the area. I mean, there is all kinds of housing that is on offer, whether that be shelters, the Salvation Army, there's the Department of Human Services, there's clothing, uh, there's opportunities for transport, utility payments, rent, immigration organizations, there's language services and centers, there's child support, there's veteran services, there's senior services, there's local police in terms of where is the station, what are the numbers, etc. If someone has been abused and really is on the run. There's social security offices, there's uh career employment solutions, and on and on the list goes. But have one. Have one that you can hand to the individual and say, there are a number of things here. Let's work through this. This would be helpful, this would be helpful, that would be helpful. Uh and then communicate with your outreach committee. Remember, we already spoke about mercy and outreach can often over uh overlap one with another. If someone comes to the door and you invite them in and you're hopeful to have a relationship with them, if you have an outreach committee, communicate who they are. Let them be on the lookout for that person. They come on Sunday, that they can be welcoming. Then I've got a set of uh, I've got a few um cases in terms of where we need to set expenditure limitations. What are some of the limits? And you're gonna need to uh I'm gonna give you an example. It's certainly not the only way. Uh you need to work this out with your own diaconate. But I hope this will be helpful. So I've got three areas. One is walk-in cases, someone who comes and knocks on the door unannounced. The other is uh phone-in cases that you might get as a pastor. I certainly get those. And the third is repeat cases. Someone comes once and then they come back again. What do you do in those situations? So the most detail is here in walk-in cases, our first point, and that is individuals seeking aid, uh they need to fill out an application form as well as submit some form of ID. And the reason for this is that we need to, all requests need to be properly assessed so as to best help this individual. This is to be filed with the church administrator if none of the officers are there. Um, communicated to the diaconal chair, or if you have uh particular deacons within your diaconate that are signed for these kind of cases. Two deacons need to be present at all formal contacts with this non-member. One deacon in the meeting records the meeting in terms of writes down some of the details, the other person functions as the primary communicator. It doesn't mean that the other person recording can't communicate, but in that way you've got roles as you meet with this person, eager to serve them and help them. At the first meeting, you should have a list of resources, we've just spoken about that, that are available to them within the community. And the other thing that needs to happen in that first meeting is that you need to classify the individual's needs. And I classify those predominantly under two areas. One is a need assessment, and the other is a resource assessment. What are their needs? Can we classify those? And what in terms of resources, what resources are available to them outside of your local church that they can already draw upon, some of which they might not be aware of? So need assessment would be under three areas. One would be crisis, the other would be short and moderate term needs, and the third would be long-term needs. Under crisis, you have the immediate health of the individual, the crisis, they need to address that immediately, safety of the individual, or else there might be certain financial issues that have risen to that kind of level. The second, under short and moderate term needs, is that we to help, for example, to help bridge the gap between someone being between two jobs, or else there's a current loss of health care. How do we help there? The third, in terms of long-term, is difficult cases that have systemic needs. And so in that way, what you're doing is that you are chronicling those, uh, you're assessing those, you're writing those things down. And so, secondly, I spoke about the resource assessment. First would be financial. Uh, do they have any savings? Do they have a uh property? What's their credit like? Uh on and on, the list of questions might go. The second is their skills. What skills do they have? If someone's in crisis, they tend to just say I've got no skills. But that's often not the case. And to help point out some of the skills that they have. What did they do professionally in their life? Uh, what areas, where did they volunteer before, and how were they in fact to help? Or what might be their hobbies? The individual is often seen to seek direction when actually they've got a number of skills and talents as the Lord would have given them that they could draw upon. The other resource that they would have available and you need to assess, and that is their family or friend network. Who is who do they still have in their life with their friends and family? Are they already receiving some finances? Any support? Are you able to assess that? Are there means in which that uh that this person is actually just trying to subsist on charity and your handout, and they are just adding that to what their father is giving them and uh what a dear friend is giving them out of out of need, but not allowing any one of them to talk. Um the other is that there is a number of, as we spoke a little earlier, uh, resources from the state. There are NGOs, um, there are other organizations within your town, your city, your county that are able to help. Again, all of these resources should be on a on a handout and also be on a form where you fill out to be able to assess and write these things down. Uh deacons may disperse $50 in coupons or $100 in coupons. This amount, the amount of the money might differ in uh the churches that are represented about uh among here. But the point is this is uh how much can those two deacons on the initial um interaction with those uh with that individual be free to give? That needs to be clearly defined as a diaconate. Uh any dispersion of coupons is to be recorded, name, date, all of those kind of things, a track record. Um if you uh much of this is in fact found on your application form, the application form that the person writes at the beginning. And I just encourage that any and every interview that you have or interaction that you have with the individual, close it in prayer. Close it in the name of your Savior. Where possible, ask them would you mind? Just ask them a question. Would you mind if I read this passage to you? Just some scripture. And if need be, you're gonna have some new deacons, they're not just gonna be sure, wait to turn. I mean, in many uh many uh candidating or um Officer, when uh men come before the presbytery uh to be licensed or to um be ordained as a pastor in the church, many times. I mean, I I used to uh chair our credentials committee in Philadelphia when I was in the PCA, and we would we would not just ask theological questions, we would ask theological questions that would also have practical bearing. So when someone comes into your church and they're looking for finances or they're looking for help, or they're orphaned, etc., do you have a text of scripture that you can read? What would you say to them? When you go on a hospital visit to the sick, what would you read to them? Etc. Now, some of the deacons, particularly in you guys, might not know where to turn in the moment. They want to turn, but their brain's just gone blank in the moment. That's okay. Happens to a lot of us. And uh, but right there, you've just got a list. For this situation, you could read this. For this situation, you could read that. Um phoning cases. All callers are to provide the same information or as much of it as possible that's found on your application form. Uh it's often will be someone in the office, whether the administrator or if your pastor is there. Um that information then needs to be forwarded to the deacon who is assigned to those kind of cases, andor the diaconal chair. The aim is for the deacon to respond within 24 hours. And we can say within with integrity, someone will get back to you within 24 hours, and we will pray for you in the interim. Um, but we want to care for you, we want to love you, we want to listen to you. Um and so set up a meeting. One of the ways that you can set up a meeting is simply set up a meeting after church. Invite them to church immediately following church if they've come. Now, this is what's interesting about doing it that way, you will immediately vet out a bunch of folk that simply want a quick handout by inviting them to come at a different time. I mean, talking with David Apple, he said in his years of ministry in mercy, he said nine out of ten folk never came back. They never came. So if he's just said, I can meet you tomorrow, I can meet you at this time, are you able to make it? Yes, I can make it. So immediately when that person comes, they've got a time, they've planned it in their day, for the most part, that person's gonna be legit. I mean you're still gonna have to have significant discernment. Still go through all the forms, etc. But it is not uncaring to do that. And there might be some churches, ours would be one of them, that does not have an option unless two deacons are there. The amount of times that you're gonna have two deacons at the same time is gonna be almost one, two percent. And so have a policy that you've agreed on. If you disagree with that, that's okay. But have a policy of how you will handle it in your church. Repeat cases. So for those that are wanting additional or continuing assistance after the first gift, uh, requires a minimum of the following. Um they need to attend two Sunday services per month. Uh number two is regular meetings with the deacons are there to develop and to track a strategy whereby the individual is moving towards independence. That's our hope. We don't want to just simply be a handout, we want to get them back on their feet. Any additional, any subsequent visit, the individual is expected to bring documentation showing sources of income, monthly expenses, so that the diaconate or those two deacons can begin to develop a budget, understand the level of continued support that needs to be offered on the church and that which we are comfortable in doing. And that's all in the intent of establishing a relationship. There's a relationship again with the person, and to seek to give them the gospel at every opportunity that we have. They'll also need to fill out a financial disclosure form in terms of their request for ongoing assistance. And in that financial disclosure form, it will list monthly expenses, their assets or their debts, sources of income, where family and others are currently supporting them, current living arrangements and the cost of those, assistance that they are receiving from NGOs or the state or others. And one thing that the deacons, for someone who is returning and wants to have that relationship and support, is that the deacons need to assess the individual's compliance with what they have asked of them. And the reason is that they are not trying to support some means by which they are trying to subsist on the charity of a number of churches in the area. We are wanting to love them to a place of wholeness, primarily in the gospel, but also take care of their physical needs. And so that is something that you will need to discern as God has given you wisdom to discern where is this individual over time. I'll say this as is true of all cases, whether a phone-in case or a walk-in case, there should there ever be an instance where you pay for a bill, a utility bill, electricity is going to be cut off or something like that. The check needs to be made payable directly to the organization. Whatever utility company it is, pay it directly. Get on the phone. I mean, I had one of the deacons the other day tell me in terms of when they paid for medical insurance. Right there, they said they want the provider, the name, your account, everything. Got on the phone with them and said, I'll pay this month only. Don't continue on this card, etc. That is helpful. A means of safeguarding yourself. And remember, brothers, is a handout is seldom the answer. It doesn't mean you don't give a handout, but a handout is seldom an answer. Or love them as neighbors, as you do yourself, and at every point share with them the hope of the gospel. Briefly, I've got two more. I'd hope to be done about an hour ready. Uh how do we utilize community resources under practical helps? As churches, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. We don't have to be a one-man band. It's just not necessary. It'll break most of us. Um, not wise. Not only can we learn from one another, we can and should utilize community resources as we seek to work among the community and to point those folk in need to suitable and reputable helps within our neighborhood, within our county or our city. Also, the church can get involved in community projects, um, non-for-profits or parachurch ministries where you are able to and have grace and faith in the light of what they stand for. Um, it opens doors for relationships and opportunities for the gospel that you currently might not have as a local church. And if you don't have any of those relationships, may I encourage you just to pray? You might just say, That one won't work, that one won't work, that one won't work, that one won't work, that one won't work. Well, pray that God will open a door for you. Where you just say, we've got grace to partner with this person or this institution for this amount of time. We've got grace for the next six months. And after that we'll reassess. And if the door closes, or actually, we thought it was good, but it wasn't good, we can extract ourselves. But pray. Let God lead you. Another opportunity is to get folk from the community into your building. Some of us have very few interactions from the community into your building. We have a delightful brother in our church here at Bethel who is a lawyer by profession, and his passion, I mean his deep passion, is to do pro bono work for those who are needy, who are unable to get legal aid because they just don't have the resources to do so. And so he offers free legal aid. And on the side, he's involved with this Christian organization called Administered Justice. I'm not sure some of you might have heard of it. It was actually started out of West Chicago, not too far from here. And what Administered Justice does, it works with Christian lawyers that offer gospel-centered legal aid for those who can't afford it. And so, for example, on a once uh once a month on a Saturday afternoon, you open your building just to a couple of classrooms, Sunday school classrooms, and uh how you can manage that, you just have to work that out amongst yourselves. But they will they will help you. They've done that around the country, and they will send Christian lawyers to take care of those who are who are immigrants, those who find themselves in marital difficulties that are beyond their ability to cope. And so, or whatever it might be, but that is one way in which the community itself can actually become aware that you exist. Um ever I've gone as a pastor, I often ask when I'm uh just among the community. Uh we'll start up a conversation and they'll say, uh, what do you do? I just say, I'm a pastor. I said, Oh, where? I say, I'm at Bethel Presbyterian Church on Naperville Road. Or I'm at 10th Pres in Center City, Philadelphia. The amount of people that don't know that you exist is amazing. We think folk know about us way more than is actually true.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:25

Do you mean people nearby that know your church business, or you?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:30

No. People nearby. Within 10 minute radius of your church. That they don't know that you in fact exist.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:37

You or your church?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:39

That they don't know that the church exists. So recently I went to see our mayor, the mayor of Wheaton. And uh it was a delightful experience. He actually had initiated a relationship with me, and I just thought, you know, I'll go and build on the relationship with a delightful brother. Somehow he knew that I was coming to be the senior minister at Bethel, and he wrote a letter, a formal letter, on the Wheaton mayor's kind of documentation and welcome me to the city and on and on and on. Then he asked me if I would come and pray at uh, or they uh Catherine knows, but uh they asked if I would come and pray at the opening of City Hall. So I went and did that, did the invocation there, and then he wrote again and thanked me, and I just said, you know, can I come and visit you? Which I did. And I was able to build on our relationship, and I was also able to ask them a number of questions about community resources. I've only been here about two years. Um I also asked, how can we be helpful? Are there ways in which we could in fact be helpful? And then we would have to assess whether or not we could do that. He might give five things and we just say, actually, four of them we just can't, we're not comfortable in doing. But I asked him that. What I also got is I got a great look, an inside look, into the makeup, the feel, and the future of our city. It was unbelievably helpful. He told me about the work of the sheriff, the sheriff of DuPage County. DuPage County is the large county here, and it's just one of a number of counties in Chicagoland, but it is large. There's about a million people just in our county. Um he told me about the sheriff, and he says, you know what the sheriff's doing? He's doing some amazing work. He says, he's working with youths that are ex-gang members that are trying to come off the street. And what the sheriff does is he is working to remove their tattoos that are related to their gang status, that are actually now a hindrance to them in terms of just getting back into regular society. So he organizes those to be removed. Then his wife organizes some lightly used business kind of clothes for these predominantly men to go and get interviews. So that when they go on interviews, they can actually have some clothes that look the part. And on and on. And I just thought there's so many things like that that you could do, that you could just come alongside. In this way, the church can come alongside good initiatives within your community in ways that enable the church to care for the poor without taxing it. Um, a couple of things. We could potentially ask for lightly used business clothing for these men, and we give to the sheriff, and just partner with them. Another thing that you could do is back to school backpacks with school supplies for underprivileged children just in your neighborhood. I'll say this. So I'm a Gen Xer, and many of the millennials and Gen Zers today, they want solid doctrine, but they also want to make a difference. They want to get involved, they want, they want to give clothes, they want to give a backpack, they want to feel like they're making a difference, they want our theology, they want Christ and the gospel, but they want to love their neighbor too. You know, David Apple is well known for saying that we are not just a soup kitchen. We're aiming to build relationships in love, be a tangible display of the gospel to them, to treat them as a neighbor, while inviting them to be part of our family through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. I end with this last point, and forgive me for taking so long. I'd hoped to finish quite a while ago. But resisting cynicism in the ministry to the stranger. You know, within ministry, one of the challenges that each and every one of us will face, not may face, but will face, whether you're a pastor, whether you're a ruling elder, whether you're a church administrator, whether you are a deacon, or even a new believer that is got so zealous for Christ and has got a bunch of new ideas, you'll be challenged in time with cynicism. None of us decide to become cynical. None of us. Though in times we are all tempted to become it, becoming deeply disappointed as we feel like we've been taken advantage of, of being viewed by others through clouded and distorted lenses, even though our motives and our intentions were pure. I mean, look no further than our Savior. Oh, Paul, how they were treated. But often, your and my standards are too high, and the results don't match what we hoped for. And so we become cynical. Soon we start to avoid certain people. We're tempted to become short or curt in our responses, particularly regarding the topic of our day. We start, we stop believing the best of people who come to the door. We just start to think, well, they're just like all the rest. Spinning a story, eager to get a handout, without truly wanting help. And you and I become so sick and tired of this nonsense. And when you start thinking like that, or start saying those words, even in your mind, it's a little late. We become bitter, we become weary. It reflects the words of Isaiah. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. And so, how do we deal with this occupational hazard? How do we take care of this? How do we guard our own soul? You know, Solomon says in Proverbs 4, keep your heart, your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Or above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. We need to be careful what we put in our heart, and we also have to guard what goes in, and we also need to be careful in terms of what we keep out. So here are a few helps. Again, not exhaustive. Number one, meditate upon Christ and his love for you. Go back to the foot of the cross, meditate upon the mercy of God in treating you as a stranger and making you a son. And then consider how Jesus engaged the stranger and was marked by compassion for them. Don't start there. That's second. Start with the love of God for you. Then, once he's filled up your soul, then consider how Christ engaged the stranger. Number two, feed your soul. Feed your soul. Scripture, the sacraments, prayer, the communion of the saints, a good book. Number three, set limits in ministry. It's an absolute must. If you are a pastor in this room, probably, I mean, in our diaconate at Bethel, my goodness, some of some men work a lot. We have to draw limits. And I'm preaching to myself here. There's always stuff to do. Learn from your mistakes. They're gonna happen. And that's where we gave you this the handout, uh, the little booklet by David Apple on setting limits in ministry, dealing wisely with manipulative people, and the tyranny of the urgent. Believe it'll help you. Number four is practice or cultivate practices of rest and refreshing. Brothers, honor the Sabbath. Honor the Sabbath and rest before your God. I know we're in the OPC, but there are many brothers that don't. Let's honor the Sabbath and rest. Switch your phone off, be uncontactable, love your family. Physical exercise, eat healthy, relax, laugh with friends and family. Number five, don't walk alone. Just don't walk alone. Walk with men who are more wise than you, who are more experienced than you, be honest with them. Friends, cynicism is contagious. And some of us have seen it in our churches. It starts with one person, they whisper to another, a cynical man cannot keep quiet. An offended person can't keep their offense to themselves. It's just true. And it starts to talk like gossip, and it begins to be like leaven that goes through your church. Number six is be humble. Unrealistic expectations about yourself and your ability to change the situations in front of you will frustrate you and hurt you. Number seven is remember that the only antidote to sin within the stranger's heart that's in front of you is the gospel. You cannot change a man's heart. We try and we try and we try. In Acts we see it was the Lord who added to their number daily those who are being saved. Number eight, confess your sin. Confess your own sin and your absolute dependence and need of God. Number nine, when you've been sinned against and it happens, sadly it can happen a lot. Particularly when you've been sinned against egregiously, possibly over a long period of time. And some of you in this room might in fact be there. You need healing. And some of that healing might take years. Some of this can be the result of burnout or what's known as compassion fatigue, often the result of stress and trauma. Well, one of the hardest things to experience is trauma within the church. It's one of the things to have a traumatic experience from an unbeliever, and in some senses that's to be expected. But to have it within the church, brothers, it is painful. Painful. And if you've been in ministry long, you know what I'm talking about. You got a shot in the solar plexus, and it almost crippled you. What do you do? You need Jesus. You need another man in your life. And then number 10, the last one is remember that the kingdom of God is a supernatural one. It's supernatural, friends. And it is God who builds the church. God builds the church, he alone converts the hearts. You will be rejected and you will be scoffed at. For we share in the sufferings of our Savior. But we will likewise in the days to come share in the glory of our Savior. And so I finish with a simple statement. We need the heart of God for the stranger. God's love, his gospel, his wisdom, his power, so that by the grace of God we would treat the stranger as a neighbor, and in his mercy, the neighbor would become a son in the family of God. May God do that in our midst. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, as we go from here, would you help us in our churches and our ministry to the stranger to care for them with the love of Christ, to welcome them as neighbors, with the hope that they might become members of the family of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

David Nakhla 1:29:53

Thanks for joining us. Go to our website, thereformdeacon.org. There you will find all our episodes, program notes, and other helpful resources. And please make plans to join us again for another episode of the Reform Deacon podcast.