Wanted! Faithful Leaders Matthew 17:14-23 Are you new leader a bit scared?  Does this installation service question your level of faith?  Are you asking yourself, "What did I get myself into??" (Don't worry…it will only get worse.) Just keep the faith…and you will be O.K. (thought)  I must warn you new leaders. YOU ARE ABOUT TO CHANGE.  (Every leader in this church who has come before you have CHANGED…and so will you.) You cannot serve Christ and stay the same.  YOU WILL CHANGE. Our lesson today is on faith.  There are 2 levels of faith.    FIRST:  There's the faith that brings us to Christ. (…at some point we decide that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life… and we decide to follow him.) THE SECOND LEVEL OF FAITH …it the faith we exercise day by day.  (This is the level of faith we depend totally upon Christ as the strength for our journey.) THIS SECOND LEVEL OF FAITH…is the faith you will need. (…faith that depends upon Christ to lead your journey.) When Jesus returned from the mountain, he became part of a real-life drams. …Out of the crowd came a man who said that his son suffered from epilepsy…which he believed was caused by a demon.   He then told Jesus that while he was on the mountain, he brought his son to his  disciple, (who had stayed  behind)…but they couldn't heal him.   Jesus then healed the man's son. The real focus was on the disciples lack of faith.  In verse 17 Jesus cried out, "You unbelieving and perverse generation." (These are some pretty rough words from Jesus.)  Jesus then shines the spotlight on three things. FIRST…On the failure of the disciples SECOND… On the faith of the followers. AND THEN… On their fear. The disciples failures are obvious. (The light shines on their failure for all to see.) When put to the test, the disciples failed.   Remember what the father said?  "I brought my son to YOUR disciples…but they could not heal him."  You have to give the disciples credit.  They at least tried to heal the boy.  We have to be impressed with the fact that they didn't say, "We failed…and we quit.  We're out of here!  We're going back home to the comfort of our old jobs."  (…back to where we will not be reminded of our failure.) No, they didn't quit!  Later, the disciples asked Jesus a most important question:  "Master, why couldn't we drive the demon out of that little boy?  We all ask that question, don't we?  "Lord, why did I fail?"  Sometimes it takes courage to admit you failed.  "Master, why did we fail??"  Sometimes it's easier to run away from a challenge rather than face it head on.  Sometimes it's easier to say, "I'm retired, let another younger generation do it."  Sometimes it's easier to say, "Who's gonna pay for all of this?"  Sometimes it takes courage to say, "Lord, not my will but your will be done."   The disciples failed, but they didn't quit. (They were still together as a family.)  Jesus then gave the disciples a lesson in faith.   It's found in verses 20 and 21.  "Because you have so little faith.  I tell you the truth.  If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, MOVE from here to there…and it will move."   The crowd knew what Jesus was talking about when he said, "You can move mountains."  The phrase, "Removing mountains" was a Jewish proverb meaning, "TO REMOVE DIFFICULTIES." What is mustard seed faith?   The answer depends on where the seed is planted.  The seed left on the shelf does nothing.  But when planted, the mustard seed becomes a towering bush.  Jesus is inviting us to put our life in His and let Him be the Lord of all that we are. WHAT ARE YOUR MOUNTAINS?  Fear? Trust?  Guilt?  Temptation?  Sickness? …How do you remove these mountains?   You remove them by prayer…and by faith. Now, the big question to you new leaders.  "Is your faith seed to be planted…or left on the shelf?"   This church is filled with leaders who have come before you who were giants in faith.  You do have some large shoes to fill.  (They're going to be watching you as you remove your seed from the shelf and plant it…and reap a great harvest.) The older leaders failed…and so will you.  But, they never quit.  They built this house of God….     BEGINNING WITH NOTHING!  That's the key of faith.  Never quit!! (thought)  I preached a sermon back in 2002 titled, "Are we a disposable church?" ..Within seconds after our benediction a group of our giants were in the back of the Mag room…talking about buying property.  They didn't quit.  They planted their seed and you are sitting in the harvest. THEY BUILT THIS BUILDING AND EVERY ITEM IN IT WAS GIVEN BY GOD'S PEOPLE.  People of faith.  People who planted seed. (thought)  If our aim is to provide a church ONLY for those of us who are presently living…then we are no longer a church.  You leaders must lead us to become a church for all times….and for all people.  You must lead this church TODAY and TOMORROW.  "The church must become a place of REFUGE for sinners…and not a HAVEN for good people."  You must lead us to plan for our lifetime…and for future generations. The buzz word for the past ten years has been, "When is the Villages coming?"  The Villages is NOT coming.  It's here.   (You can see it rising up on Hwy 44.)  You are the leaders who will guide our future.   There's another building program on the horizon for larger sanctuary to provide for the 500 new members over the next ten years. …I believe that's our future…and I want you to believe it too.  (I'm happy that it's going to happen…and sad that I won't be around to see it.) "God keeps blessing us…and if we don't accept his blessing…I believe it might be passed on to another church who is ready to move on it." ..If you keep the faith God will show you a miracle. George Barna wrote a book titled, "Frog in a Kettle." I want to repeat a story from his book that I told in another sermon ten  years ago. (I'm sure you all remember it.)  George Barna said, "If you throw a frog in a kettle of boiling water he will instantly jump right out of the pot."  However, "If you put the frog in cold water…and turn on the burner, he will continue to swim around until the water boils and kills him."   The frog is unaware of the slowly boiling water that ends up killing him.  You new leaders must join with the other leaders of this church to make sure the church does not swim around in an environment that is comfortable…but deadly. Today, you may be trembling at the thought of becoming our newest leaders.  But tomorrow you will become a seasoned leader.  (You might become a new Moses). My first day at Southern Baptist Seminary was in Sept 1963.  I was terrified.  There, in the morning worship, Dr. Duke McCall made a statement that lives in me to this very day.   He said,  "There's over 700 new students here.  You must know that this school and the Christian world is looking for a NEW MOSES…to lead our people to a new freedom  It is my prayer that one among you might be that NEW MOSES." (Every student in that worship were wiping tears from their eyes.) What a challenge!  What a truth!  It is my prayer that one among you will step forward to become our NEW MOSES.  Thank you for saying "yes" to this call.  Do not fear.  Pray…and Have faith.   Always remember.  You have God on your side.  He will  guide you.  And this church will be praying for you. May God bless you and enrich you with courage as you serve his church. "Go therefore to all nations…preaching this gospel as you go.                                                      Amen.