Michigan Camp Meeting 2019: As a Witness, Matthew 24:14

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Pastor's Ordination

Pastor’s Ordination

Heavenly Father, you've already blessed us abundantly this Sabbath day.

And your Holy Spirit has already been felt here.

We just ask for another special outpouring on this meeting, this very special meeting, of ordaining these men for your work.

And we just thank you for the opportunity to serve you and we ask that your spirit will bless us in Jesus name.

I am bound for the promised I am bound for the promised will come and go with me I am bound for the promised land promised land Shall we gather at the river ♪ ♪ Where bright angels we have trod ♪ ♪ With its crystal tide forever ♪ ♪ flowing by the throne of God Yes we'll gather at the river the beautiful, the beautiful river gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of god throne of god gonna lay down my burden down by the riverside I'm gonna lay down my down by the riverside down by the riverside gonna lay down my down by the riverside down by the By the riverside.

This is a very, very special occasion as we share together in the ordination of 3 pastors.

I want to say a special thank you from the union perspective for all the work, the organization that has been put together for this camp meeting.

Brother Mitchiff, his team, Brother Justin, Brother Royce, Brother Mike, all those.

Thank you for all the work that you've done.

As I think about this process of ordination, it comes to my mind how I've walked through this with other candidates before.

What are we looking for as we decide through the power of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of Jesus?

What determines whether a pastor is an appropriate candidate to be ordained?

I'll tell you, there's a couple of things that come to my mind.

The Bible says, by their fruits, you shall know them.

Another piece that's so important is that that individual loves people.

If they love people, they will be a wonderful shepherd.

Now you know that a shepherd leads, but there are times when it's tough.

A shepherd also has to apply the rod occasionally.

Then in that process, we expect and the Lord expects a pastor to be a soul winner.

If you love people, you want them to be in the Kingdom with you.

So praise the Lord for your evangelistic planning that you have here.

There is a process that takes place where surveys are sent out, church leadership where the pastor is serving helps to evaluate that pastor.

That is communicated with that pastor anonymously, results are shared, there's interviews that go on with conference leadership, our ministerial directors, our team here at the conference office.

Once the executive committee makes a decision for this candidacy, then it's punted, if you please, to the union.

And the Lake Union with the presidents and then ultimately the executive committee of the Lake Union adopts and approves of that candidate to be ordained.

Jesus did this very thing, you remember, as Pastor Mark was preaching today.

We see in Matthew 10 where Jesus called those 12 together.

Now, they didn't have everything together.

Jesus desires to see us grow and to bear fruits for His Kingdom.

I do remember, I will never forget, then I'll sit down here, that Elder H.M.S.

Richards said, if you can do anything else, do it, besides being a pastor.

The problem is, that's a wonderful statement.

But if the call of the Lord has been on your shoulders, you can't get away from it.

If He has touched you and your heart is committed, now that also means, my friends, that every 1 of us out here in this congregation today is a minister.

Pastors are specifically called to support, to train, to shepherd, and yes, to equip the laity, but they're also 1 of the laity themselves.

May God help us in this process of finishing His work so we can go home.

Thank you to the Lord for these precious candidates today that will be ordained.

God calls every Christian, no matter what nationality, size, shape, gender they are, to be a minister of the gospel in a general sense.

But the Bible is very clear that God calls some to be pastors, some to be teachers.

So this is an opportunity when candidates are brought into the pastoral field, they are placed in a position where they are able to demonstrate their calling.

And as that is evaluated, as Elder Paynett explained, as that is evaluated and processed over a period of time, years, 3 to 5 years, That evaluation then is looked at and then is acted upon and that is what's happening right here today.

So this is a very special time for each of these candidates.

Each candidate was given the opportunity to have someone that really had a meaningful part in their ministry to present them.

And so what you will see is each candidate will come up and then there'll be a person that has been asked to speak in their behalf and they will do that and we'll follow that order.

I first met Cody and Mandy Francis in 2013.

Cody was the dean, the academic dean at Heartland College at the time, and he was 1 of the elders at a small Seventh-Avenue church called Warrington, maybe 30, 35 members, not far from Washington, D.C.

My wife and I joined that church and I became impressed immediately with Cody's balanced judgment.

I saw him in a number of situations in the local church where he had to navigate through some complex issues and I watched as the godly wisdom was manifest in those situations.

I was impressed with his biblical knowledge as he taught Sabbath school and as he opened the word of God.

I was also impressed with his evangelistic passion and his preaching.

And as I got to know Cody and Mandy, Mandy's graciousness or hospitality was a tremendous blessing to our church.

And the 3 children, Carice and Serena and Hosanna, all involved as a family in ministry and as they pastor in the Petoskey District now, I know that they have been led of God and that God is graciously guided.

When you look at a candidate for ordination, and I participated in a number of ordinations, 1 of the things that impresses me about Cody particularly is that he has some basic biblical qualities that undergird the success of every pastor.

He has an authentic relationship with Jesus.

You don't have to be with him too long before that stands out.

He preaches not philosophy, not humanism, but God's Word.

He understands Adventist identity, that this is more than just another denomination, but it's a prophetic movement of destiny.

He is mission driven and has an evangelistic passion in his heart.

And you can't be around Cody too long before you sense that his love is for souls.

He's got a commitment to church organization.

He's not going to take his churches off into some tangent here or there, but he senses the largeness, the bigness of the Adventist message.

And so, Pastor Mitchiff, it is with absolute full confidence, the call of God on Cody's heart, and that Mandy will stand by his side and the 3 children will be participants in this ministry, that I present him to you and to the conference for ordination today.

I'm very thankful to the Lord for the opportunity and the call to serve.

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Pastor's Ordination

Pastor’s Ordination

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Recorded

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