I consider myself a mere recruit, a new one among you. Sometimes it is a little embarrassing to stand before some of these seasoned workers of the Lord.
The song Richard Haynes and his son sang this morning was a real encouragement. When I say, “I cannot,” then He says, “Oh yes, you can.” That was really encouraging.
After listening to the brethren on Monday and Tuesday, and yesterday as well, I came to the conclusion that perhaps the best thing for me is simply to disqualify myself.
But, brothers and sisters, we are called. That is the whole thing. I am called, and you are called. There is no way that we can say no to the Lord. We are His. We are called to serve, and there is no way out. So the sooner we learn to serve Him, the better.
Let us look at a few portions of Scripture. Turn first to 1 Corinthians 4.
Let a man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Here, moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
The NIV renders it this way:
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
Now turn to John 3:26-27.
And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to Whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him.
John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven.
Then turn to John 13:3-5.
Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came forth from God, and goeth unto God,
riseth from supper, and layeth aside His garments; and He took a towel, and girded Himself.
Then He poureth water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded.
Let us also read John 13:12-17.
So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and sat down again, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
Ye call Me, Teacher, and, Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord; neither one that is sent greater than He that sent him.
If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them.
Finally, Hebrews 3:5-6 says:
And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant.
But Christ as a Son, over His house; Whose house are we.
Brothers and sisters, the topic this afternoon is administering the church. The word administering may sound rather high and official. We speak of a minister and a ministry, but perhaps we can put it in a more scriptural way: how to be servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
The word church, as I understand it, is not the best translation from the original Greek. Yet throughout the centuries, this word has been much used and abused. People say, “My church,” “That church,” or, “We go to church.”
Some even think that after graduating from a seminary or being ordained, they have the privilege of taking a church. “My church, your church, that church.” There are those who feel qualified to take a church.
I was told that in the Philippines there was a question-and-answer session. One brother asked very pointedly, “Brother, how do you consider a church? What is a church?”
After pausing for a few seconds, he answered this way: “A church is an assembly of God’s people where the headship and authority of Christ are established and operative.”
Let me repeat that. A church is an assembly of God’s people where the headship and authority of Christ are established and operative. That is the church according to Scripture. Christ is the Head, and we are the body.
We can put it another way: wherever the headship and authority of Christ are established, there is the church. The Head cannot operate without the body, and the body cannot function without the Head. The two are one. It is a matter of life, not an organization.
When the headship of Christ is established and His authority is operative, then we know that the church is responding to the Head, coordinating with the Head, agreeing with the Head, and being in harmony with the Head. In short, it is one with the Head.
The church is not a place with four walls, steps, pews, and a pulpit. It is where Christ is Head, where His headship and authority are established and operative. That is the church we are speaking about this afternoon.
What does it mean to administer the church? To be an administrator, you must be given something or entrusted with something to administer.
Ordinarily, in many places and many churches, people are kept busy with programs, projects, things to do, and tasks to perform. But for those who bear responsibility, the Lord has entrusted something very precious and very dear to His heart: His people.
He has entrusted His people to us for care, feeding, nurture, protection, and leading to God. In other words, it is not an easy task.
To feed, guide, care for, and protect the Lord’s people—the sheep of God—is very vital and very important. But I think there is something more than that. To administer the church is to administer it in such a way that the headship and authority of Christ can be brought into view.
Administering the church is not merely ministering to people. It is bringing in the lordship of Christ and establishing His headship among His people properly.
For the headship of the Lord Jesus to operate and for His authority to be established, the church has one lesson to learn: the lesson of obedience and submission to the Head. That is the hardest lesson for all of us.
You have your ideas. I have my ideas about how a church ought to run. We have programs and projects—things that we think we ought to do. But the lesson we must learn, individually and corporately, is how to submit and how to obey.
It is through the church’s obedience and submission that the headship and authority of Christ can be manifested. There is no one to challenge Him. We simply allow Him to be there, with His government and His authority established. He is in full control.
When we touch the matter of administering the church, we touch the matter of authority. To be the Head is to be the authority.
A brother once told of his daughter, Becky, who was very bright. One day, while they were eating, she stood up and said to the family, “I’m not afraid of anyone.”
Her father said, “Now, aren’t you afraid of God?” She said, “No. He is with His children.”
As children, you do not fear your parents in that way, because there is a love relationship. There is love, but there is also authority. When you see authority behind it, love is behind it as well.
When James and John came to the Lord asking for the two places, one on His right hand and one on His left, they were evidently aware that authority was an important matter. They wanted to sit in the right place.
The Lord did not say that they were asking for the wrong thing. He asked them, “Can ye drink of the cup that I drink? Can ye be baptized with the baptism wherewith I am baptized?”
Their reply was, “We are able.” The Lord answered, “Ye shall drink the cup that I drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: but to sit on My right hand, or on My left hand, is not Mine to give; but it is for them for whom it hath been prepared.”
Apparently, they were seeking authority. But the only thing we know is that those who are really in authority do not seek authority.
Immediately after this matter of James and John, the Lord said that the Gentiles have a different way of ruling—an earthly way. But among God’s people, it should be different. These are two different systems, two different kingdoms. They can never mix. There is no compromise.
The Lord said that whoever would be great must be servant, and whoever would be first must be slave of all. The Lord Himself is the example.
For the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.
That is what we learn from Scripture: to serve is to be nothing, to be a slave.
Who can serve? Who is qualified? We come back again to the fact that no one is qualified. No one is qualified.
For those who serve the Lord, there is always this paradox. In one sense, we know that we are called and that we should serve. Yet deep down in our spirit, there is the sense that we are not able. “I cannot. I cannot.”
I think this paradox will remain with us for the rest of our lives. The Lord says, “You have to serve Me. I redeemed you to be My own. I brought you out that you might serve.” Yet, on the other hand, there is the consciousness that we are not able.
Therefore, if there is any service, it is not of ourselves. It is of Him.
Let us consider a few things that may help us in learning how to serve in the church. The first is the matter of making ourselves available—the availability of a heart to serve.
Moses was a faithful servant. When the Lord told him to go to Pharaoh, he went. When the Lord told him to do something, he did it. When the Lord said, “Come up to the mountain,” he went up. When the Lord said, “Go down,” he went down.
When the Lord told him to speak to Aaron, to Aaron’s sons, and to Israel, he did so. Because of his faithfulness, he was given the heavenly pattern. Moses was at God’s disposal. Whenever God wanted him, he was there.
In this country, time is a rare commodity—really rare. Someone told me that when you are in England, you walk; when you come to Canada, you run; and when you enter the United States, you are breathless.
You have no time for anything. So, if we want to take a place of responsibility and serve the Lord, we must be willing to give our time to Him.
If we do not give our time to the Lord—to seek His mind and seek His help—how can we help others? Those in responsibility should be able to teach. But if we are not taught by the Lord, how can we teach others?
If we do not go to the Lord for direction, how can we direct others? It is impossible. We would be blind leaders of the blind. Therefore, we must be willing to give our time to the Lord; then we can give our time to the brothers and sisters.
Of course, all brothers and sisters give time to God. They pray, read their Bibles, and come to fellowship. But those in responsibility must give more.
I like what Gordon says: those in responsibility are not perfect. They are often weak, but they are those who are willing to give more than the rest in the fellowship. That is what the Lord requires.
The Lord knows our frailty. He knows what we can do and what we cannot do. But for those in responsibility, we have to give a little more than the average brother or sister in the fellowship. We have to get a little ahead.
The matter of time is very vital. It is a testing ground of our sincerity and commitment. Those in responsibility must be disciplined people, above reproach, and sincere.
If you always come to a meeting late, after the prayer time or the message has already begun, and you are a responsible brother, that shows something. There is a lack of commitment.
I have seen this in many places. The brothers and sisters are there, and then those in responsibility finally walk in. It shows that something is lacking.
There is a lack of commitment and a lack of sincerity. Because of that, we cannot be a good example to the brothers and sisters, and the fellowship becomes weak.
This matter of time is very important. We must be willing to give our time to the Lord: to wait upon Him, to pray, to know His will, to be instructed by Him, and to make ourselves available to the brothers and sisters.
I have heard people say, “You are not going to have time,” because there are legitimate requirements in this life. If you have a house, there are many things to do around the house. You look here, and something needs to be done. You look there, and something else needs to be done.
Your wife requires your time. Your children require your time. Your profession requires your time. You yourself require some time. It seems that you have no time for anything.
So we must learn to redeem the time.
The second thing is that we give ourselves to the Lord not merely as individuals. I may give myself to the Lord, but my wife lives her own life, and my children do their own things.
I believe there is a tremendous weakness in the church because families cannot come together to serve the Lord as family units.
For the brother who is in responsibility, I think it is only right that he should offer his wife and children to the Lord. Your wife may not be totally in agreement with the way you serve the Lord or with the time you give to Him, but nevertheless, you must offer her to the Lord.
You must offer your children to the Lord so that the ministry you render to the church can be rendered as a family. There is nothing more honorable than serving the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Lord wants us to serve Him as a unit.
We see this in Genesis. Satan is always trying to divide, while God always unites. He brings things together and holds things together, but Satan is always trying to disintegrate and divide.
When God brought Adam and Eve together, the first thing Satan tried to do was to put a wedge between husband and wife. Adam blamed Eve for the fruit. Division came in.
We should not allow that to happen. The Lord has brought us together as one, and we must claim that for the Lord. Then there is division between brothers. In Genesis we see Cain and Abel, two brothers, and Satan again trying to destroy that relationship.
Satan is right here among us, seeking to destroy relationships between husbands and wives, and between brothers and sisters. Therefore, those in responsibility must learn to offer their wives and their children so that they can serve the Lord as a unit.
The family is the smallest unit of the testimony of the Lord Jesus.
The next thing is that we should learn to use the blessings God has given us as a blessing for the church.
We are all the offspring of Abraham. The Lord told Abraham, “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” When God gives us a blessing, it is not merely for us to enjoy; it is so that we may bless others.
People go to church to be blessed, and they often are blessed. But do you know why you are blessed when you go to church? It is because others have brought life into the church.
We are to bring blessing to the church so that the church becomes a place of blessing. We are all vessels of blessing. If more brothers and sisters bring blessing to the church, those who come will be richly blessed.
Elders and responsible brothers are to be hospitable. Open your homes. Entertain the brothers and sisters. If the church has no meeting place, open your home for the saints to meet. If there is no place for a prayer meeting, open your home for prayer.
That is what we read in Acts. Many churches began in homes. When we meet in homes, there is a family atmosphere. You can sit close together and know one another more intimately.
When a brother and I were in Florida one January, a brother told us of a recent experience. They had a group, mostly Chinese brothers and sisters, meeting in a home. The fellowship was sweet and intimate, and it was growing.
They decided that because they were growing, they needed a larger place to meet. So they bought an old church building, complete with pews and a platform.
The first Sunday they moved into that so-called church building, much of the life of the church went out the window. The moment people sat in pews, they became passive. They simply sat there and waited for someone to get up on the platform and minister to them.
There was no participation anymore. Everybody simply went there and sat.
I think we have to maintain that close atmosphere, and a home is always a good place to begin. A home is always a good place to begin.
Meeting in homes brings inconveniences for the host. You have to set up chairs, give up your living room, sweep the floor, and perhaps remove precious ornaments in case the little ones run around.
When we first opened our home for the brothers and sisters, it was a joy, but there were inconveniences. You become concerned about that special item you brought back from Taiwan, wondering what might happen if one of the children ran into it.
Such things happen. But the Lord helps us overcome. The Lord helps us overcome.
I remember one brother saying, “You see that carpet? You have just moved into this house, and now you have opened your home for the Lord’s people. They come in and go out every Sunday, especially in wintertime, with snow and dirt.”
He said, “If you do not open your house for the Lord, you will be stuck with that carpet for the rest of your life. It may not even match your furniture, but you will look at it every day. If you use your house for the Lord, and people come in and go out, the Lord will give you grace. Perhaps you will change your carpet every five years.”
It may sound funny, but it is true. He always gives us more. We may offer much, but He gives much, much more.
Therefore, we need to make ourselves available—not only individually, but as families, with all that is in our families. All that we have belongs to Him. We should not hold anything back from the Lord and from His purpose.
The first matter is availability and the heart of a servant. The second is acceptability. We do things not merely for the sake of doing things. We do things in order to be acceptable to Him and to please Him.
That is the heart of a true son: always seeking to please the Father. We serve as servants, but we also serve as sons. Christ, as a Son, was faithful over His house.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He did everything to please the Father. His aim was the Father’s delight.
When He was twelve years old and was found in the temple, His parents asked Him what He was doing. He answered:
Knew ye not that I must be in My Father’s house?
Since we are sons, our main business should be about His business. It should be in His house—not our personal business and not our house, but His house.
There is always a temptation for those in leadership to act as though the church belongs to them personally. We must be very careful that people do not gain the impression that this is so-and-so’s church or so-and-so’s meeting.
People may say such things, but I can tell you, brothers and sisters, it is not my church and it is not my meeting. It is the Lord’s.
By the Lord’s grace, He takes me away from the fellowship almost once a year, so that the local brothers can assume responsibility, exercise their gifts, and function.
Those in leadership must give room for others to come into the place of service, so that we may serve the Lord together as a whole—not just a few, but everybody.
We must do things that are pleasing to the Lord. When you begin to do things, you will receive many suggestions. One brother may say, “I think this would be a better way,” and another person may offer another suggestion.
It is all right to listen, but we need to learn to receive our direction from the Lord Himself. We must learn the hard lesson of saying no to ourselves and saying yes to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
One thing I learned in Hong Kong in 1983 was this: no one can give us direction. No one. Under the Holy Spirit and through God’s Word, we can find direction. Brothers and sisters can give confirmation, but never direction.
That is one of the most important things for those in leadership. We must receive our direction from the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, by waiting upon Him—not merely by listening to suggestions or personal opinions.
It is all right to consult others, but we must not seek their approval. We must do all things to seek His approval.
God’s way is often contrary to man’s way. If those in leadership are determined to please the Lord, they will often suffer misunderstanding and even rejection. That is the price we must consider.
If you are not willing to be rejected and misunderstood by your brothers and sisters, you are not qualified to become a leader. It is hard, because we all want people to say, “You are doing okay. You are doing fine.” But we cannot please men. We can only please God.
Throughout this week, we have heard again and again that the Lord is not looking for success. He is looking for faithfulness.
Faithfulness to the Lord is what He seeks. Do not be too ambitious. Be careful. Whatever the Lord has given you to do, do it faithfully.
The Lord knows your capacity. Do not always imagine that you can do more than He has given you to do. Be faithful in a little, and the Lord will increase what He has entrusted to you.
As we grow in the Lord, we are servants and sons. Then, of course, there is friendship and closeness. We are not only servants, and we are not merely sons; we are friends.
In John 15, the Lord said:
No longer do I call you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known unto you.
As we grow into maturity, we enter into intimacy with the Lord as His friends. The Lord takes us into His confidence. He shares the deep things of His heart with those who walk intimately with Him.
Therefore, we need to learn to walk intimately with the Lord, so that He may share with us what is on His heart.
The next matter is adjustability. Whether we are sons or servants, we need to learn to adjust.
We are people of habit. After we have done something for many years, we become used to it, and it is hard for us to shift gears.
But our Lord is unlimited. He is much bigger than we know. He always has something more.
The problem with those in leadership is that we often think we are doing all right, and we become easily satisfied. But the Lord brings us to one level in order to prepare us for a higher level.
There is no such thing as arriving. We cannot say, “Now we know what to do.” There is always more. We must always give room for the Lord to do more and to show us more of Himself.
This matter of adjustability is absolutely important. As we grow older, we become more set in our ways. We think we have experience. We may have a long history with the Lord and know more than some of the younger brothers and sisters.
Then we think they should simply listen to us and do what we tell them. But it is not a matter of age. As we walk together in the Lord, we must learn from one another.
A sign of immaturity is being set in one’s ways. A youngster who wants a certain candy insists on that candy; you cannot substitute something else. But as we grow in the Lord, we learn to make adjustments—to the Lord Himself and to one another.
The Lord is so much bigger. He is so full, while we are so small. He wants to bring us to perfection and fullness. Therefore, we must be willing to make adjustments.
We must not be set in our ways. That is a danger. Once we become settled in a certain position, it can be very difficult for the Lord to shake us out of it.
There are those who are so sure. I think there is danger in that. We know, yet we know that we do not know. We are sure, and yet we must remain open to the Lord.
In our walk with the Lord, yes, we are sure, and at the same time, we are not very sure. We know that we do not know. Even when we think we know for certain, it is still not enough. That is how the Lord teaches and adjusts us.
Finally, brothers and sisters, consider the Lord in John 13. At the Last Supper, He rose from supper and laid aside His garments.
Food and clothing are the two most essential things of life. Whether you are a doctor with a high income, a schoolteacher with a moderate income, or a secretary with a small income, people say, “I am just making a living.”
Everybody is making a living—food on the table and clothing on the back. This is the ordinary responsibility of a human being: to work so that there is food and clothing for oneself and one’s family.
But the question is this: in the church, who is to live for the church?
The Lord did not finish His supper. He rose from the table while the food was still there. Then, after washing the disciples’ feet, He put on His garments again and reclined at the table.
Many times, when we serve the Lord, we have to leave things unfinished, even things related to our own living. Can we trust the Lord?
Sometimes we are more concerned about our own needs than about the Lord’s testimony. There are people who work on Sunday to earn extra money for their families.
I remember a story of a barber in England. He always opened his barber shop on Sunday, because Sunday was his busiest day. Everybody was off work, and they could come for a haircut.
But after he was converted, the Holy Spirit began working in him. He felt that Sunday was a day when God’s people should be gathered in the Lord’s house.
He calculated how much money he would lose if he closed on Sundays, and he struggled greatly. Should he close the shop, or should he continue opening it? If he closed on Sunday, he would lose many customers.
But something within him said, “You should go and meet with God’s people. Shut the door.” And he did.
The brother said that when he closed his shop on Sunday, he could hardly manage the rest of the week because so many people came in. We always think about what we shall eat and what we shall wear. That is what the Gentiles do.
But the Lord says:
Seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
The Lord’s house must come first. If we honor Him, He honors us.
Therefore, we must learn to rise from supper, if necessary, to serve our brothers and sisters. In this country, we rarely go hungry, but I know that in other countries, some of the Lord’s people go hungry and go without many things.
The next matter is laying aside our garments. Christ laid aside His glory and put on flesh. He came to serve. Brothers and sisters, that is what we ought to do as well.
We live in what is called a classless society, where all men are created equal. Yet often we do not really think that way. If you are an executive or occupy a certain social position, you may think you are different from the average worker.
Because of our station in life, we may feel that visiting certain people is beneath us. But the Lord must rid us of all those things. He must reduce us to servants who truly care for others.
We should never consider our social standing, education, income, or associates. As long as we cling to such things, we can never serve freely. We must lay them aside.
There is also the matter of ethnic distinctions. We may naturally tend to remain among people of our own language or background. But we are God’s people. We are all God’s people, not merely a Chinese group, a Russian group, or any other ethnic group.
We are members of the body of Christ. There is no distinction. We are all His.
Therefore, we must learn to lay aside our income, education, social standing, racial identity, and whatever else may keep us separate. Then we can begin to serve. Otherwise, how can we serve?
The Lord is very inclusive. We cannot be selective. We must not choose to serve only people whom we like to serve. Our Master decides whom we are to serve.
Then the Lord took a towel. He laid aside His garments and took something else—the towel with which to wash and wipe the feet of others.
In everyday experience, if you wash and do not dry your feet or hands, you feel uncomfortable. Washing is only half the ministry. We need the towel to complete it.
Many brothers and sisters may desire to wash, but they do not want to wipe. They do not want to complete the service. Yet the Lord’s service must be complete.
Many have a desire to serve and say, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” But someone has put it beautifully: you can never love the Lord without being willing to deny yourself.
Many of us want to love the Lord, but we do not want to deny ourselves. We do not want to rise from supper. We do not want to lay aside our garments. We want to wash people’s feet, but we do not want to take the towel and wipe them.
For those in responsibility, we need to learn. We need to rise, lay aside, wash, wipe, and serve. We must be prepared to deny ourselves.
We cannot love without denying ourselves. Service is voluntary, sacrificial, and done in love. Then it becomes sweet.
The fellowship we have in Glasgow is very young and very small, but I am thankful that there are hearts eager to submit. I am not saying that we know how. We are all learning. But we are learning.
As long as we live, we are learning. As long as we live, we have the desire to serve the Lord, and yet somehow we keep crying within, “I am not able.” It is good when we say, “I cannot,” because then He assures us that He can.
Let me share this with you: in the household, there are no spectators. We are all participants. Everyone in the family should be an active participant in the service.
Everyone is important. I remember a brother in the Philippines who said, “I am not very gifted. I cannot sing, I cannot preach, and I cannot do anything. I am just like a little toe in the body—such a small and useless toe.”
But he said, “I cannot do anything, but without me, you all limp.” Just being there is important.
Often we think, “They can do without me. What can I do? There is nothing I can contribute.” That is the wrong attitude.
Brothers and sisters, in the body you are very important. Without you, the body is incomplete. In our prayer meeting, when someone is absent, we feel that something is missing. When that person returns, there is rejoicing, added strength, and added encouragement as we pray together.
You are all very important. You may not have a special ministry, but you have a ministry. You may not have a prominent place, but you have a place. You are important to the testimony of the Lord Jesus and to the unseen world.
That little toe, even though it may seem useless, helps make the body one. Therefore, do not refrain from the assembling of the saints. Your presence is important.
To administer the church, we must make ourselves available. We must seek to do what is acceptable in His sight, always seeking to please Him rather than men.
We must be adjustable, because none of us has arrived. The process of transformation continues all the time. We are being changed from glory to glory.
We must make ourselves available. It costs. We must seek to do things acceptable in His sight. We must be willing to lay aside our own things. It is hard, but that is the way.
I often think about the narrow gate. People apply it to initial salvation, and it may be applied there, but it can also apply to every decision. If we want to walk with the Lord through the narrow gate, we must leave our baggage behind.
We cannot bring in things from the world. We must leave them behind. We cannot bring in things from the religious world either. In a sense, what gets through is Christ Himself, because only Christ can enter through the narrow gate and walk in the narrow way.
Father, we thank You for the privilege of being called as Your servants. We thank You for honoring us by calling us into the family of the living God.
We thank You that You have called us out of this world to serve You. Lord, since we know in our hearts that we cannot, and that we are not qualified, we thank You that You have called us and deposited Your very life within us so that we may serve You with Your life.
We pray that You will do this work in us. We want to trust You, believing that whatever You want us to do, You will also give us grace to do.
Lord, we pray that we may be willing to make ourselves available to You, to commit ourselves—not only as individuals who serve You, but also our loved ones and our families—that we may serve You as a unit.
We pray that You will use all the blessings You have given us to bless others. Make us those who are truly committed to Your purpose and to Your testimony.
We pray that You, Holy Spirit, will give us a desire to do things that are pleasing in Your sight—not our will, but Your will. Help us to know Your mind, Your way, and Your direction for Your people.
As we follow You, help us to learn to adjust to Your perfect ways and to Your direction. Keep us in that humble place, willing to be taught and willing to be adjusted, flexible in Your hand, so that You may form Christ in us.
May we be a blessing as You desire. Again, we confess that apart from You we can do nothing. When we say that we cannot, You assure us that You can. That is our only hope.
We give one another into Your loving hands. Raise up those in responsibility in each assembly. Give them wisdom and direction in leading Your people.
We know that You are doing a work in these last days, in many places throughout this land. Wherever Your people are found, we pray that the headship and authority of the Lord Jesus will be established and operative, and that Your people may grow rightly.
We give You all the praise and all the glory. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen.