to booklet that you were given, along with the bulletin when you came in this morning. We're going to be talking about the dynamics of spiritual leadership. And you should have in your hands that little pamphlet that has scripture in it, that we will review this morning, that booklet is entitled, The Qualifications, Nomination and Election of Church Officers. We are studying the Book of Acts and the Dynamic Church and looking at several crises that are confronting the Church of Jesus Christ in this end of the 20th century, beginning of the 21st century, not the least of which is the crisis of leadership. Time and again, when the Americans are asked about the leadership over them, they confess with some dismay that they are not only dissatisfied, but don't know where to turn in order to be satisfied. A recent poll taken by USA Today and CNN indicated on August 18th that Mr. Bill Clinton's approval rating had slipped to 52%, who disapproved of his job. 52% of Americans said he was not leading the country in the way that it should go, and quote, they were dismayed over the direction that America was taking. At the same time, a poll taken by a man named Dick Workland, who was a pollster in Washington, DC, showed that the majority of Americans surveyed, indicated that they felt that the President Administration lacked the character and morality to lead the country the way it should go, but also confessed that they knew of no one else in Washington who had the character qualities able to lead our country in a successful and in a proper way. Many Americans this past week were dismayed when the Republican hopeful William Bennett declined to run for office, saying that he had no fire in his belly for the sort of leadership that America wanted today. In fact, the irony of it all is that despite the fact that he has a 52% approval rating below 52% who disapproved of him, I should say he still is 3% above Bob Dole as the man that Americans say should lead our country. That shouldn't surprise us because these polls tell us very little, quite frankly, we read them like they're the Bible, but they tell us very little. In fact, Mr. Clinton bless us heart as in the midterm of his first term, the midpoint of his first four years, and he has a 48% approval rating, 52% disapproval rating. Ronald Reagan, when he was in office at the midpoint of his first term, had only a 41% approval rating and yet he went on to win a landslide two years later and Mr. Bush who Mr. Clinton defeated handily in the last election at the midpoint of his first term had a 76% approval rating that will long to lose big in the election, which means, quite frankly, that when we are satisfied or dissatisfied with our leadership, we don't stay that way for long. The winds of change and the moods of Americans make this whole arena of public leadership something that only the most brave are willing to venture into. The problem Mr. Clinton said two Sundays ago in about his church is that there was something, and I quote, fundamentally wrong with American government. A lot of people say, yeah, Bill, it's you, but then again, they said that about George Bush. They said it about Ronald Reagan. They're dissatisfied with whoever they have in office. And I agree with Mr. Clinton. He is not the problem. It's not a problem with people in Washington fundamentally, although that's part of the problem. It's a problem with Americans. It's a problem with our view of what leadership is. And that problem that affects us in the public sector of our life also affects us in the church. Increasingly, we find pastors leading the ministry going from church to church. I read this weekend the survey taken or a study done by one man who was doing his doctoral dissertation there at Gordon Conwell Seminary. It used to be at the turn of this century that the average 10 year for a pastor was 19 to 20 years. Now, it is less than two and a half years. Few men are willing to undertake all the flat that the ministry requires and to attempt to meet the increasing and insatiable demands of the American public when they bring those demands to church. It's not just a problem, by the way, of corrupt politicians and lazy pastors who don't want to face the nitty-gritty of the job. It's also a problem in the field. Throughout this world, throughout this country of ours, there will be millions of churches this year that will hold officer elections, whether those are elections to the best for you, the church session, or the board of beacons, or the church council. And they will increasingly find it difficult to find two kinds of people. People who are spiritually and biblically qualified to lead the church and willing to be taught and examined and qualified in order to lead. In short, it is difficult for congregations in America to live by the biblical standards of spiritual leadership and to elect men and women to office to lead in that way. That again is a fundamental problem with our definition of leadership. Today, a leader in America is considered one who will give the people what they want and tell them what they want to hear and is competent to manage divergent, special interest groups until at least the majority of people are happy enough to re-elect him or her to another term of office. Therefore, the very essence of leadership has changed from one of leading people to one of getting re-elected, whether it's re-elected to office and the government or office in the church or office in some social group. Re-election, which is fundamentally people pleasing, is now the main goal of leadership rather than taking people where they need to go and not necessarily want to go by telling them the things they need to hear but perhaps don't want to hear. David Wells in his book No Place For Truth has talked about what he calls the rise of every person. The rise of every person, he said, is that view in America that the majority always know what is right. That the plurality of our views, the pluralistic mindset of our culture has made it such that leaders, whether it's in the church or in government or business or wherever they're found, are now tuned into what every person wants. So now David Wells says, it is the sovereignty of the people that command what is right and tell leaders what to do rather than the sovereignty of God. Listen to what he says. When the religious audience is thus that sovereign, its leadership is appropriately redefined. The best pollster now makes the best leader for all ideas must find their sanction and even their legitimacy in the audience and who knows the audience better than a pollster. To be sure, this is not a flattering way of describing those leaders who have succumbed to the popular evangelical sentiment. It is more flattering to talk instead of servant leadership that has the ring of piety about it. But it is a false piety for it plays on an understanding of servitude that is antithetical to the biblical understanding of leadership. Contemporary servant leaders are typically individuals without any ideas of their own. People whose convictions shift with the popular opinion to which they assiduously attune themselves, people abound to the wishes of the body, for whom their direction and standing derive. The fundamental requirement of the Christian leader is not a knowledge of where the stream of popular opinion is flowing, but a knowledge of where the stream of God's truth lies. There cannot be any leadership without a vision of both what the church has become and what under God's hand it can and should be. Only a genuine leader has such vision. Genuine leadership in the church, therefore, is not a matter of finding out what everyone wants and already knows and articulating that. But rather, genuine leadership is a matter of teaching and explaining what has not been so well grasped and where the demands of God's truth and the habits of the culture pull in opposite directions. The powerful undertow of conformity goes a long way toward explaining the dearth of leadership in the evangelical world. The evangelical world does not have an over-abundance of those who can undertake such a responsibility and withstand the pressures to conform to what is widely held no matter how costly. In the evangelical church there are many organizers, many managers, but only a very few leaders. The brethren, that was not always the case. There was a time in the church's life reflected and revealed to us in the book of Acts when there was at the very core of the church, dynamic spiritual leadership. Leadership that was imported and impregnated with the power of God's dunamis, in fact it's from the word dunamis that means power or ability or wonder or miracle. From where we get the word dynamic. These were men and women who were men and women of character first and of performance second. They were people who were men and women of a scriptural vision of a Christ-centered courage and of a godly spiritual character. And what you'll find out in the book of Acts and all through the New Testament and even the Old Testament as you look at the priest and prophets of Old is that they never did four things. Number one, they never asked the people what they wanted or whether they liked what they got. They never took a survey to find out what the proper and popular thing to do was. They never took a democratic vote on anything pertaining to God's word. In fact, quite frankly, I can't see them taking a democratic vote on anything in the Bible. And they did not give in to people's threats or complaints or whims or fancies. They were known as men and women who said, And that's what they did. And the church was dynamically empowered through the character of their godly lives. Now on the eve of our own election of elders and deacons in just two weeks, it behooves us to take a good look at what dynamic spiritual leadership is and to make it our purpose as individuals and families and as a congregation to vote only for those men who are dynamic spiritual leaders in their own right. And who can lead us in the way that God would have us to go. To do that, I would ask you to take that pamphlet, that booklet that we provided for you and open up to the scripture which is our text this morning that is listed on pages two and three. The text comes from 1st Timothy chapter three and from Titus chapter one and again from 1st Timothy chapter four, where Paul tells Titus and Timothy the qualifications for dynamic spiritual leadership in the church. First, he talks about the leadership qualifications for elders. It is a trustworthy statement. If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. And overseer then must be above reproach the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or food nations, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God. And not a new convert must he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. For this reason I left you in Greek, that you might set an order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely if any man be above reproach the husband of one wife, having children who believe not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God steward, not self-willed or quick tempered, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, not fond of sorted gain but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, then he may be able both to exhort and sound doctrine into refute those who contradict. Then Paul tells Timothy the qualifications for deacons in 1 Timothy 3 beginning in verse 8. Deacons likewise must be men of dignity and not double tongue, or addicted to much wine or fond of sorted gain, but holding to the mystery of faith with a clear conscience. And let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossip, but temperate, faithful in all things, let deacons be husbands of only one wife and good managers of their children and their own households. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. And then Paul says to Timothy, in 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 12, kind of an overall summary, a summarial statement of what it is that qualifies them and to be a leader. Let no one look down on your youthfulness but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity show yourself an example of those who believe. Rather than what we will do this morning is simply to look at these texts of Scripture and to understand first of all what it is that makes a man a qualified spiritual leader. Then once we understand that, we will apply it to our church and see how we have implemented those qualifications here at Trinity Presbyterian Church. And thirdly, we will see how we can personally, each one of us, through the nomination and election of Godly men be part of electing and installing dynamic spiritual leadership in our church. First we need to understand what that leadership looks like and so I ask you to turn the page in your booklet to pages 4 and 5 as we look here and we categorize in 8 or 9 different groups what are the standards or the qualifications for elders and deacons prescribed by 1 Timothy and Titus chapter 1. First of all, the overriding qualification is simply that he be above reproach. That's an intimidating sounding qualification. The old King James, if you have it in your lap says he must be blameless. It does not mean that he can be blamed for nothing. It does not mean that he is perfect. What it means simply is that there is nothing glaring in his conductor character that would cause his reputation to be damaged and therefore reshame or reproach upon the name of Christ and the church. In other words, the minimum qualification for an elder deacon is that when people outside of our church find out that he is an officer in our church, they say to themselves that must be a spiritual church because I know this person to be a spiritual man. Also, there are family qualifications. He must be the husband of one wife. There is much debate about that. I am not going to get into that. I simply would remind you that the text reads he must be literally and Greek a one woman man which means that when he finds himself converted, he remains faithful to his wife and loves her as Christ loves the church. I ask you, brethren, if you want to find out how a pastor and elder deacon is going to treat the church, then find out how he treats his wife. He will love the church as he loves his wife just to see who will love Christ as Christ loves the church. It is the same thing. He also must be one who manages his own children well. He keeps them while they are in his household under his control, leading dignified, lives not full of dissipation and idolatry and immorality, and he must be one who shows that he can manage his homes and is able to manage the household of God. He must be one who has stewardship qualifications. He is not a lover of money fond of sorted game, but a faithful steward in all that he has in all of the owns which means that not only does he tithe, but he sacrificial and strategically gives to the important events and ministries of the church. He uses his times and his talents and his treasures for the kingdom of God first, and that is why he is able to be entrusted with your money as an officer and oversee your tithes as they give him to the Lord because he has proved to be faithful with his own money. Therefore, he will be faithful with yours. There are also social qualifications. He is to be a man who is well thought of by his fears and those outside of the church. That does not mean that he is a popular man. In fact, most men who are true leaders are unpopular with somebody. The point first Peter says is not whether or not you are unpopular with somebody, but what you are unpopular for. He said if you are going to be despised and abused and attacked by people, then by no means make it because of your sin but because of your strong commitment to Christ. In fact, I would venture to say, Brethren, that it would do us good to have spiritual leaders who sometimes make unconverted people uncomfortable. After all, that is what Godliness does. That is what the holiness of God does in the lives of unconverted people. It makes him uncomfortable and drives them to Christ. So he must be one who has a good reputation, not necessarily a popular man inside and outside of the church. He must be self-controlled. He must be in control of his own spirit, he must be temperate or balanced. Not addicted to different things, able to control his own emotions. He must be one who has the inner character qualities of the fruit of the spirit, he must be prudent or sensible, gentle or humble or meek. He must be uncontentious and dignified, not double-tongued in other words a man of integrity in his speech and life. He must be faithful to all his duties, loving what is good and just and devout and committed to the Lord. He must reach a certain level of maturity, both in his physical life and in his life as a Christian. We are not to elect a new convert, one who is too young in his own life and in the Lord to know how to lead that saints mature. And there are doctrinal qualifications. If he is an elder, he must be able to teach, able to refute error, able to correct what is wrong and do encourage what is right and to build up the saints, since he has the office of a teacher. That is the elder's position to teach the word of God and to pray. He must subscribe to the system of doctrine taught in the scriptures as we as Presbyterians understand it. When he raises his hand and takes the vow that he will be faithful to the reformed faith, he ought to understand what that is and agree with its principal tenets. And have no qualms of conscience, he must not be double-tongued and say he is an Arminian or he is a Calvinist when he is really an Arminian or that he is reformed when he is not. And he must be able to communicate that, wincebly and completely and simplistically so that people can understand what it is. And if he is a Deacon and not called to teach, then the scripture says he must hold to that faith with the clear conscience, himself being a Calvinistic reformed, covenantal believer in harmony with the confession of faith, which is our system of doctrine taught in the scripture we believe. He also must be one who has sexual qualifications. The office of Eldon Deacon, as we understand it, is open only to men and therefore he must be a man and not a woman to be elected to that office. And finally there is an overriding qualification. He must have an exemplary life. He must be one who has, in his speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, an example of a life that all believers should have. Those are the qualifications. And I want you to take note of this fact, brethren, that when God talks about officers in the church, he does not talk about their performance, their expertise in management, sciences or business, their popularity with people, their social standing, the amount of money they had, the country club they go to, how they dress or look, it is the character issue that is his only concern. God says, give me a man who has character, and I will give you a godly leader, and I will work through him. It's my opinion, nothing more than that, and so it's open for the baker, you can ignore what I say, but it is my sincere opinion, that we ignored the character issue in this last election, and we're paying a dear price for it in America. And we have ignored the character issue in the Church of Jesus Christ for decades, and it paid a price for it. I want to tell you that going to seminary does not make a man a man of God, and being successful in business does not make a man an elder or deacon. It's character that God is looking for. How is the man when he's by himself with God alone? What's his devotional life like? What's his prayer life like? How does he witness to people if he does it all? What kind of commitment and stand is he willing to take? How pliable is each of the conformity of popular opinion? What is his character life, God says? When his character life, that which you see reflected to his behavior, is the kind of character that God wants then God can use it. Now, how do we apply those principles of a character life, a life of character, of spiritual dynamic leadership? Well, if you turn to page 4 and 5, we have taken those different qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3 and 4, and then in Titus 1, and we have put them together in 11 or 12 different qualifications, different categories. And we have said, and I'm sorry, it's on page 6 and 7, that we must attest, and we must attest to the fact that he has these qualifications. First of all, that he has become a member of the church, that's almost facetious to say that. If he's going to lead our church, he has to make a commitment to our church, and there's a minimum amount of time in which he's made that commitment, and we were able to observe him to see if he has made a commitment to us as a body of believers. He also must attest to the assurance of his salvation for the Scripture says, he must gain, quote, great confidence in the faith. If he's to lead other men and women to Christ and build them up in the assurance of their grace and faith in Christ, then he must be sure of that himself, a confident believer, not self-righteous or smug but confident in the grace of God. He must attest to Christ and maturity in a minimum age standard because the Scripture says he's not to be a new convert who can be tricked by the enemy and fall into the deceptions of pride and deceit. He must attest to involvement in one or more ministries of the church, because the Scripture says he's first to be tested. We should see how he operates with people, and I perform spiritual responsibilities before we put him in God's name in charge of the church. He must attest to character and personal integrity of people that is exemplary in God honoring in his business and family and household in and outside the church, because he must be a good reputation, first Timothy says, and above reproach. He must attest that he has a regular commitment, a private devotion that includes prayer and Bible study, and many people will say, well, where do you get that out of the standards? We get it from a little Greek word that's repeated again and again and again and again, in the books of first Timothy, second Timothy, and Titus. There are two key words in those pastoral epistos, epistles. One is the word that did a scallion, it means to teach or the doctrine. Teaching, instruction, he must know certain things, the other is the word Yussevia, it means piety or devotion, it can mean spirituality, that's how we would describe it today. He must be a man who is pietystically in the good sense, devoted and then spiritually committed to Christ, in that he wants to feed off Christ's word and in prayer day by day. If he's that kind of devoted man, he's able to lead us by example and precept and teaching to our deeper devotion of our faith and love for Christ. He must also test that he has the time and willingness and schedule to perform the duties of the office and the committees to which he's assigned. He cannot be so busy in business and with other activities that he can't make it to his responsibilities at the church because the Bible says in Titus he must be faithful in all things. He also must attest to a consistent kind of manner of attendance at the principal meetings of the church which we interpret to be Sunday morning, Sunday evening, the Sunday school and the major important special events of the church like the Lord's Supper, the missions committee and missions conference activities and so forth. Now why would we put that in there? Because the scripture says he must be an example of one who believes. Let me ask you something. Look up here. Why would we elect a man to represent us and guide us who did not consider his number one priority on Sunday to get himself and his family in church in the morning and evening to worship God who wasn't teachable enough to sit on the instruction of some other layman in Sunday school. Did not consider the Lord's Supper to be a regular pattern of his life or be committed to world or whole missions or any other major function of the church. Why would we want to make that man our leader so he could pull the standard down to where he likes it or lift us up to where we ought to be. He must be an example of one who is committed to Christ. He also must be one who attest to a consistent pattern of willfully and joyfully tithing to the Lord. That is self-explanatory. We do not check that brethren contrary to the rumor that's out in the congregation. We have looked at no one's tithing record and will not do so. When we bring the elder and deacon nominations before the committee to be interviewed they then send them to my office and I have the privilege of asking all those fun type questions and one of them is do you tie. We take the man's word for it. I have been very pleased with how honest our men have been but if he is going to manage hundreds of thousands of dollars for the kingdom of God he ought to be able to manage his own money and be a steward through tithing. He also must attest that he is in accord with the direction of the church because the scripture says he must be not self-willed, not pugnacious nor contentious but submissive to the brethren. He will take a vow as an elder or deacon to submit to the brethren and to be in accord with the doctrine and in the direction of the church. And finally he must be one that has a heart for pastoral ministry. Paul tells him that if anyone aspires to the office of an officer in the church it is a good thing he desires to do. A man should desire to be an elder or deacon not because it begins in status in the community because in this world it has very little status. But because he loves God and loves God's people and wants to help them grow by serving them as an example and a leader. Let me say Breven that there have been some who have said with these qualifications that the session of Trinity Church is adding to the word of God. I do not believe we are. We have put principles, principle scriptures besides every one of those statements so that you can go to the word of God and see for yourself whether we are adding to the word of God or taking it out and applying it and seeking the fruit of the preached word which the book of church order says is the responsibility of the session quote to seek the fruit of the preached word. And we do that by applying the scriptures specifically to our government and discipline in our own lives. I will also tell you that these are not new standards. These standards were devised. They were begun by copyright and the session that served with him. They were reviewed and reinforced by Gordon read and the session that served with him and I want to reinforce them as well. I want to build upon the good work that my brothers before me have done and I want to affirm pastor where pastor read and saying that they have done the right thing and I want to commend the session before the session that is now in office. To say publicly they have done a good thing and maintaining high standards for spiritual leadership in our church because I'll tell you this brethren this is a truth you can take to the eternal bank. A congregation will never, never, never rise higher spiritually than the level of spiritual leadership on the board of elders and deacons never. They will set the tone and they will pull the lowest common denominator spiritually up to a higher level because of their godly leadership. Copy where I saw that Gordon read and reinforce that and so do I that this is the most important thing we can do as a church together. When we vote on many things in a congregation and we vote on many things the thing that is the most important we vote upon brethren is the men who serve us as elders and deacons making sure we have the best spiritual men in the right kind of offices. I want to do that that brings us to the application individually and our involvement in that and that's the election procedure and I would ask you simply to turn the page for electing an officer comes in four different stages. The first is the work of god it's what we call the stage of vocation that it is God who calls on the man that puts into his life certain aspirations and desires to be an elder and or a deacon. And that call of god is seen it should be confirmed by the people in the congregation they should see hands God's hand upon this this young man or this older man and see that God is leading him in a spiritual way. And since God is leading him he'll be able to lead others and it must be approved and affirmed and concurred with by the session those who are in spiritual leadership and responsible for all the facets of the ministry not the least of which electing officers is one. They must see that God has his hand on this man and when we see it then we come to stage two to the stage of nomination where we take these biblical qualifications and through the procedure laid out in the book of church order we nominate godly spiritual dynamically it's excitable excited men who are committed to Christ into that we have a potential to elect good men to the officers of elder and deacon to do that we have to make sure that we ask the man permission to nominate him because the man has a lot to say about his qualifications and his wordiness and is willing to accept that. And I would ask you to keep this in mind for our sake of the church we've had some some hurt feelings and some disgruntled people because nominations men have been nominated and no one asked permission to nominate them and they were offended by the nomination and by the process ask the man he'll be honest with you say that I have the privilege of nominating you to be a deacon or an elder in the church and if he's ready he'll say yes and if he's not he'll say thank you for that privilege but I would prefer that you not do so I'm not ready. And leave it at that. Now once the men are nominated that slate of nominations comes to the session and it is the session who has a threefold responsibility to train to examine and to make sure that the man is qualified. It is the session who must present to the congregation a ballot that has godly men on it so that when we give you that ballot in a couple weeks we can look you in the eyes and test that every man on that ballot is qualified as far as human lives can tell to be a spiritual leader and will leave you well. Now that's not something new that's something biblical as old as the Bible. In fact in the New Testament in 1 Timothy chapter 5 the session of elders has said that they are not to lay hands on anyone too quickly. They're to screen men and make sure that only the right time did men ordained. And Acts chapter 6 will be see the first election taking place in the New Testament church where deacons are nominated and selected and ordained. In verse 6 it says they brought them before the elders to approve them before they nominated or before they ordained them and put them in office. In fact the whole genius behind 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 that we just read is that god has given to a pastor and to a board of elders' ascension in a local church thousands of years ago a grid through which to fill her men to make sure that only qualified men are appointed to the office of elder and elected to the office of deacon. We are not infringing upon the rights of the congregation to elect whom they want but we are saying that they can only elect those who are qualified who have been trained and examined and to meet the standard. That is our responsibility not so much to you as it is to the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally when you give you that ballot it is your responsibility to prayerfully and with great wisdom asking the Holy Spirit to guide you to select the best men possible not necessarily the one you like or the one who is the most popular or the one whose family you have known for years but the one who is the best qualified man out of the batch. Which means brethren that you have to elect those whom you have prayed about and whom the Lord guides you and you must never vote for someone who your conscience cannot confirm as a godly man and leader. And let me tell you what we have done as a session the last we used to protect that right and privilege of yours. The Book of Church Order drawing out of the principles of Scripture this truth has said that a congregation shall never have appointed over them to lead those whom they have not approved by election. Therefore we are no longer filling slots. It used to be that we would have a number of ballots until we filled every slot which meant that we kept going on until we got to the bottom of the list and you didn't want them but you had to put them in to get out of here to get them in office and go home. We're not doing that anymore. We're protecting your right to listen to me carefully to vote for whom you want and to not vote for whom you don't want. And therefore we have two ballots and it takes the majority of the Book of Church Order says to elect a man. And if they're not elected on the first two ballot then you're saying we don't want them to be our elders and beacons and that's fine with us. Because we believe that God would rather work through fewer more qualified men than through a body of filled slots where half of the slots are filled by men. We should not be there as an elder a deacon in the first place. It is your right and privilege to receive whom you want and to reject whom you don't want as your elders and deacons. And therefore we would ask you to do the following, brethren, to take this little Book of Home this week and to use it as a devotional and prayer guide to pray over the men who are listed on the last three or four praises, to familiarize yourselves with who they are, their gifts and ministries, their families, to ask the Lord to guide you in electing in a couple weeks on September 18th the elders and on the 25th of Deacon and that you would be in prayer for this whole process so that we elect the godly man for the godly office of godly leadership one after another. Brethren is a great right you have. Here in the church in America to elect your officers it is also a tremendous responsibility. And we need to do this with more prayer and with more sobriety and with less politics and personal preference than we do anything else in the church. We need to make sure that Trinity has dynamic spiritual leaders in office and when we do only god knows what we will become and what he will accomplish through us. Father we do thank you for this great privilege to choose the men whom you have called and given spiritual gifts and abilities to lead to the church and that we can establish their leadership over us by selecting them and ordaining and installing them in the name of Jesus Christ. Father help us to do that soberly and seriously with great spiritual undertaking and prayer fasting and praying and laboring long and hard over these ballots so that we know the men whom you want us to check off and elect and the ones that you want to wait awhile before you mature them some more and put them in office. Thank you for this great privilege and this great responsibility. Father help us to do it now for the good of your church and for the glory of Jesus Christ and whose name we do pray. Amen.