John 12:26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. 
	A minister of God has the constant responsibility unto the Lord to give forth spiritual food that will meet the needs of the congregation. The only acceptable sustenance is the Word of God, centered in Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior. Apart from Christ, there is nothing of value to consider and to bring before you, His Beloved Body. Knowing this, I hope to honor God the Father, to honor our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to honor the indwelling Holy Spirit Who binds us together in Love with an offering of thanksgiving before all of you, His Body. The manner in which I hope to do this is to give thanks to God for the faithfulness that He has shown to this fellowship over the past 30 or more years. While I may be talking about a man of God, my heart is unto the Lord for making the complete provision of such a one to guide us in the truth of Christ, through word, through deed, through his life lived before us, in the love of Christ that he has been unto us.
	Col 3:23-24 comes to mind as I consider the minister of my youth. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. From childhood onward, my brother and I were never without the knowledge that we were part of a Godly home. Mom was very faithful as a servant of the Lord in her duties as our mother. We never were without times of prayer and all the wonderful Bible Stories that we learned by heart. We also knew that Dad was a minister, an evangelist. He was constantly on the road, preaching and sharing the Word of God. We would often go with him in our local area, when he was home, and we would be his greatest supporters from the audience. There were times when he asked what was burned in the fiery furnace as he discussed the story of Shadrach, Meschach and Abednigo, and we would shout out that it was the ropes that had bound the three young men of Israel that had burned. 
	Our home was a haven for us. We knew that we were living with different ideas than many of our friends. We knew that we were in utter dependence on the Lord to get us through as a family. There were times when we ate only beans and peanut butter. Our provisions were given on a daily basis. Mom could not plan meals because she didn’t know what there would be to eat from day to day. The Lord got us through and He worked in the hearts of Mom and Dad through those times of dire need. Mom was often reminded of the time, during the great depression, when her father locked her large family in their four room house and was ready to set it on fire because he had nothing to give them. Even in that day, it was the grace of God, through some neighbors who brought food over and released the torment of my grandfather’s desperate love for his family. Mom never took such a drastic measure, but she and Dad spent much time in earnest prayer unto God to meet the needs of our family. There developed, in the both of them, a deep commitment and reliance upon God to see us through every day. 	
	The other thing that worked together for good in the grounded ness of the grace of God was the loving manner in which we two kids treated each other and them. They were very fortunate that we did not end up in juvenile hall. We were very fortunate that we didn’t end up killing each other. This home was not the home of peace and rest; it was utter bedlam and devastation as we dealt less than lovingly with each other. Again, the Lord used even that chaos to establish a great trust in Him in our parents. They knew that it was only by the grace of God, day in and day out, that we were surviving as a family. 
 	As teenagers, we knew that we could not get away with anything. There was always some way that our parents found out about our misadventures. The Lord always arranged to have someone wherever we were that would mention to Mom or Dad what we were doing. Later, as we grew and started wandering farther from home, we soon discovered that we could not enjoy the things of this world, no matter how hard we tried. The reason was that, almost from the moment we left the house until the time of our return, Mom and Dad were in prayer on our behalf. We were being held by the Lord in direct answer to the prayers of these two faithful servants of God.
	All of this is but a background to the various ways in which God was active in the lives of Mom and Dad, as He was preparing them for what would become the greatest challenge of their ministry. He had in mind a complete service for these two in ministry to a portion of His flock, and He wanted them ready to be instantly available to any who would need the touch of God in their lives. I mention the two of them because ministry is never a solitary element. For a man to be the true testimony of God, he must have a spouse who is holding him in prayer, is standing in the gap, and is giving Godly counsel and encouragement through the darkest times. It requires that both the husband and the wife share the desire to be completely used by God, no matter what the road, no matter what the trial, no matter what the cost in terms of this earth’s riches. It is as a husband and wife are joined together in the living expression of the oneness of the church in Christ, that an understanding is developed in the goodness and the mercy and the grace and the covering of God in Love. One can never honor one without the other, for to do so is to devalue the work of God in the lives of His willing and obedient servants.
	Having so delineated the course of development in the life of our family and our parents, I would now like to deal briefly with the things that God has worked in me, and in many in this room, through the faithful witness of our pastor. We have not come to praise him, to borrow a Shakespearean quote. We are here to thank the Lord for the testimony of Christ that has been lived before each of us. In the life that we have witnessed, Christ has ever been the focal point. We have seen one whose heart was after God to the fullest. 
	2 Tim 4:1-7 comes to mind in my praise of God for the father that He gave my brother and me. Dad has continually lived a life before God that would answer the challenge of the Apostle Paul in that letter to Timothy. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 
	…I have kept the faith. There is much in this passage that is directly applicable to Dad. He never hesitated to preach the Word of God, even when he was giving training seminars in the insurance field; he kept and still keeps his faithfulness to God at the forefront. Everyone knew that he was a minister first, and a businessman only as long as it pleased God. 
The Lord worked in the heart of my father to the very point that we see in this passage. He enabled my father to be a minister after God’s Own Heart. So often, as I have watched and learned from his example and from his encouragement and from his prayers, I have been reminded of King David, a man whose heart was after God. Yes, David had his ups and his downs, but his primary concern was what was pleasing to the Lord. Dad’s heart has ever been after what would please God. He has never wanted anything less than to be in the will of the Father, glorifying the Son, in complete obedience to the Holy Spirit in line with the Word of God. When mistakes were made, they were most often made on the side of love, the same love as he received from the Lord.
I have spent a number of years under Dad’s tutelage in the Lord. There have been many things that he has pointed out and that we have taken to the Lord together. Sure, he is a hard task master, but that is only because he wants to instill in all his listeners the heart that places Christ above all else. Some of the things have not been easy to accept because they invariably lead to the death of self. Self has no place in ministry is one of the things that he has stressed over and over again. The time before we meet with someone to minister and to counsel, must always be spent before the Lord in prayer. It is there where the Lord makes His servant ready to bring His word of healing and admonition to the one in need. Then, as the meeting takes place, always open it in prayer and seek after the Lord to guide and to direct the very conversation. We learn to listen first, and then we allow our hearts to lift up the person in love before the throne of grace. Our unceasing prayer is that the Lord would glorify Himself completely in that meeting, in that life, in that heart. We must never take any credit for anything but always account it all unto the Lord from Whom all provisions come, especially the provision of His Love to the ones who are in such desperate need.
As well, there have been many conversations about being the sounding board for others. Sometimes they simply need a place to vent their anger and their frustration. They need to blow off that steam before they can truly listen with an open heart. So what if the Lord uses us, His ministers, to be the target of all the pent up anger and disappointments. Count it as unto the Lord in our hearts and never, never, under any circumstances, take offense at what is being directed at us. Stand before the tirade in prayer and return only love and kindness and forgiveness. If, however, something is stated that is a criticism, thank the person and take that to the Lord for the Lord to make any changes that need to be accomplished to more completely express Christ through these lives that we live before God and before man.
In line with that, we must always realize that we, who know the Lord so intimately, are held to a higher standard. There is no area that should be open to supposition or even a hint of lack of principle or integrity. We constantly seek after the Lord to expose any area that is of concern to Him and must be continuously willing to have the Lord change anything that would be seen as displeasing unto Him. 
These are but a few of the things that my pastor and I have dwelt with over the course of our walk together. In everything, I saw a man, a human being in whom nothing but God mattered. He was not perfect. He did not express Christ flawlessly in every day and in every situation. There were errors in judgment and errors of omission, as is true of every man except the Lord Jesus Christ. But, even with all the human faults, his greatest testimony and witness to me has been that he was and is truly after the fullness of God to be evidenced through the life of Christ in him. His heart has continually held forth the ideal of Christ being more and more perfectly seen through the witness that he presents throughout this whole of creation. He is a man whose heart is completely after God, and that is the greatest witness any of us can have on this earth.
He has ever been to me as the Apostle Paul was to Timothy. So often, the very words of Paul were the words spoken to me, just as they were given to Dad by his mentor. 1 Tim 6:11-16 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time — God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. 
These words are filled with encouragement and with love. They contain the admonition to always be faithful and constant in the Lord. Much of what was and is required, my Dad supplied through the Word, the study of the Word, and the prayer of his heart unto God to make me a man of God. Even in that prayer, it was not for my sake, it was always for the Lord’s sake. Yes, I am his son, but the concern of his heart has always been centered and remains centered in the witness of the Son of God in the life that I live, that all of us live. 
There are many characteristics of Dad’s heart and soul that could be delineated, but that is not the purpose of this evening. Rather, I would take a few more moments to dwell on the ones that were both aggravating and inspiring in the course of their operation in my pastor.      
My dad has ever been a man whose determination after the Lord has manifested itself in a variety of ways. Some were obvious, and some were difficult, but the most determination that he ever portrayed has been after the fullness of Christ. He intractably has lived his life as unto the Lord, Whose servant He is. It has never been a question of what Dad desired. All of us could share the truth that his life gives evidence to the fact that it is only what would please God that matters to him. As a family, we endured many, many times of early arrivals at locations, very early arrivals, because he did not want to take any chance of displeasing God in his ministry. Sure, we would joke with him about his Germanic upbringing, but with him, it really was a simple matter of being where God had called him, and being there in plenty of time to be of service. Even if no one else had arrived, and it was still O dark thirty in the morning, we were there and he was giving himself over to the Lord in prayer to prepare him to be of service to any in need. 
Dad’s love for God has ever been constant in season and out of season. Everywhere he goes, he is ready to bring forth the Word of the Lord and godly counsel as the Holy Spirit directs. I have long remembered the fact that he desired to share Christ. It was not a chore for him; it was gladness for him to be able to talk of the wonderfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is always so much more that he wants to convey, but the words of man have never been sufficient to express the Love of his heart for God. He would be exhausted after his days of ministry because he always gave everything unto the Lord in that ministry. 
Some would call him a perfectionist, and that is a true assessment of the way of life of my father. Nothing was half-heartedly done. If it was worth doing, it was worth doing to completeness without any shoddiness or shortcuts that would compromise the whole. He was always greatly frustrated with any wall in the house that was not level, any angle that was not perfect, and any task that was not completed. This was and is also evident in the work that he laid before God. There was never any excuse as to why something would be put off or not completed on time. Every fiber of his being was focused on being wholly unto God that which would be pleasing to God’s heart. We drove hours to church, because that was where we were to be. It mattered not if we were exhausted or disgruntled. We belonged to the Lord and we were going there as a witness of the grace of God. There were many things that we forfeited because it would interfere with the life that we were living before God. Nothing was complete until Dad was first satisfied with the manner in which it would bring glory to God. Everything was done with a view to how would this effort, how would the result of this discourse, how would the time taken for this project be worthy unto the Lord. Would God be pleased in it? That was the measure of the perfection that Dad put into everything.  
In line with this is the fact that Dad enjoys the Lord. He sparkles with delight at the every thought of the Lord. It has never been a task or a duty with him. It is always been a privilege and an honor to be called to the work of the Lord. Every time we witnessed the goodness of God, Mom and Dad made certain that we lifted up the name of the Lord in thanksgiving. They are especially adamant in giving God the credit for everything, even the breath we take and the water that we drink. Nothing that comes into our life is to be taken for granted or shunned as unworthy because it all comes from God. Dad enforced this dictate in a variety of ways; some which were very deliberate manifestations of Spare the rod and spoil the child. But, no matter how much we rebelled against the high standard that was the life of our family, we always knew that Dad was a man who talked and walked with God. Sometimes, I am now ashamed to admit, it embarrassed us. Sometimes we wished that he would not be so deliberate in the walk that he had before God. Friends were few, and acquaintances were limited because there is a lack of understanding and acceptance in this world of a man whose entire being is after God. Not that that mattered to Mom or Dad. It was immaterial in the light of Jesus Christ, and always will be.
I close this evening with the words contained in the parable of the good and faithful servant. I also would like to read a little of the Mathew Henry commentary concerning the joy expressed in this passage. Matt 25:23, “His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 
	Mathew Henry writes the following about the course of this parable:
(1.) The state of the blessed is a state of joy, not only because all tears shall then be wiped away, but all the springs of comfort shall be opened to them, and the fountains of joy broken up. Where there are the vision and fruition of God, a perfection of holiness, and the society of the blessed, there cannot but be a fullness of joy.
(2.) This joy is the joy of their Lord; the joy which he himself has purchased and provided for them; the joy of the redeemed, bought with the sorrow of the Redeemer. It is the joy which he himself is in the possession of, and which he had his eye upon when he endured the cross, and despised the shame, Heb 12:2. It is the joy of which he himself is the fountain and centre. It is the joy of our Lord, for it is joy in the Lord, who is our exceeding joy. Abraham was not willing that the steward of his house, though faithful, should be his heir (Gen 15:3); but Christ admits his faithful stewards into his own joy, to be joint-heirs with him.
(3.) Glorified saints shall enter into this joy, shall have a full and complete possession of it, as the heir when he comes of age enters upon his estate, or as they that were ready, went in to the marriage feast. Here the joy of our Lord enters into the saints, in the earnest of the Spirit; shortly they shall enter into it, shall be in it to eternity, as in their element.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
	The Lord is so gracious as to call forth those vessels of His Love and Faithfulness to supply the ministry for His Body. These are the ones who have been chosen to place His Word of life and healing before His people. These are the faithful servants who only do that which would please the Lord God Almighty, their Master. The joy of the Lord is the measure of the grace that God pours out upon His people through the willing servants after His very heart. He has blessed me, He has blessed my family, and He has blessed this fellowship with such a witness. The honor belongs to God. The joy of our fellowship is the joy of the Lord. The growth of our fellowship is the work of God as He chooses to multiply and to draw and to knit together in Christ, those who are part of this community of believers. My Dad is not alone in this place of service. There are countless numbers and legions of men and women whose hearts are after the Lord to the complete fullness of God, wherever He has placed them. It is just that we can thank the Lord that the chosen minister for this fellowship is truly a man of God ordained to bring forth the Word of God in the life of Christ that is being lived before you and before me. 
	   The benediction of Paul in 1 Tim 1:15-17 is most appropriate at this time. The focus is never on the servant, but must always be on the master, the source of the servant’s very life, Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
	I would like us to end this consideration with the prayer that is held in the song All My Days. I hope that it gives forth unto the Lord the glory and the honor and the praise and the worship that He deserves from the hearts of all gathered here this evening, so blessed in the life that we have in Christ Jesus, Our Lord, Our Savior, Our All!