How Do You Recognize The Servant Who Doesn’t Want To Be Recognized?

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Recognize The servant who doesn't want to be recognized. How do you go about that? We all know those folks. They're behind the scenes. They're never going to be first in line.

If there's a meal line, you're going to always find them somewhere near the back. Yet Man, they work, work, work, whether it's at a church. You know, I was telling this is Dr. Date the word Carson's with us today, and certainly his topic and his idea. As Doc, why don't you set it up from your scripture that you're comparing?

been considering.

Well, today is 9.30 and finding scripture verses for 9.30.

Sometimes it can be a little challenging for this date the word ministry. And I've been using Nehemiah 9.30 that talked about how God was patient with his people. But it also said they didn't listen.

So I wasn't really sure about that verse. And I came across this verse in 1 Chronicles 9:30. And that's one of those. Is there anything good in 1 Chronicles?

Well, there's some nuggets of gold, and here's one of them. 1 Chronicles 9:30 says, And some of the sons of the priest made the ointment of the spices.

Now, listener, you're probably going right now.

Well, that still didn't do a whole lot for me.

Well, as I started looking at that, I was just blown away. that in the list of all the different duties God took time to make sure that some people were recognized. for doing what would really be mundane work behind the scenes. He said there were some sons of the priests. These are, you know, I think of like my kids.

They got involved in folding the bulletin. They helped set up chairs.

Well, they're behind the scenes, and I just got blown away with God saw people working that no one else saw working, and he made sure they got recognized in Scripture. Forever? They're in the bottle. And it just caused me to say we ought to take time to look at who's out there. that is they're they're giving their all And they're not looking for public recognition, but they ought to be appreciated.

And sometimes we need to be awakened to the fact there are a lot of people making the work of the ministry work. And how do we go out of our way to say thank you to them? That's so awesome. And so, we also have Brian Parrish, pastor from the Atlanta area, and he's got. You know, you warmed him up, Doc, so that he's ready to go.

So, Brian, welcome to Truth Talk Live.

Okay, this Great to talk to you guys. I really appreciate your ministry.

Well, Brian, how do you as a pastor? Live out. First question. Chronicles 9.30. What are some things you do?

Well, yeah, there's I think everybody that serves would they serve to serve the Lord, man, but there's something. about when people you know pay attention we you know You're not doing it in obscurity, and um you know. I've got a lot of people that serve here at our church, and if I were to call them out on a Sunday morning and Know, give them their props, they would hate it.

So, one of the things I've been trying to do it over the years. Mm-hmm. stack of little cards on my on my desk. And I keep them right there by the phone. And I try at least, I try to be vigilant.

Most of the time if you, those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

So I try to do at least one a week. week and and I just send them a call You know, hey. Want to just thank you so much for And I put in there specifically what they do, you know, just thanking them. they make the ministry work. And there's There's, you know, there's great days here at the church when you know people, oh, the preacher this or the music was that, but man, it takes a lot of pieces to make this machine work.

And we're all, we all have the same goal. We're using. different gifts, but we all want to serve the Lord and make much of Jesus.

So I have found that that little card, you know, that handwritten. Written card where somebody took the time to just thank you. It means a lot. You know, we we do one of the things I I learned in college is, you know, when you see somebody do something, even if it's considered small, like just this past week, I had a fifty something year old gentleman in our church. He was walking by and he noticed one of our kids and children's ministry, their shoes were untied.

And he just bent down and tied his shoe and went on with his business. You know, I'm old enough now where it's easy to get down and harder to get up. That and I just shot him a note and thanked him. And he came up to me on Sunday morning and was just thanking me for seeing something so small.

So, you know, it might not be a big deal to us, but it's always a big deal when you thank somebody and just recognize what they're doing to contribute to the kingdom of God. That's beautiful. Absolutely amazing, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Thank you, Brian. That should set stuff off so that you could call us with your story. 866-348-7884-866-34TRUTH. And what's what's the name of your church, Brian? It's Lisbon Baptist Church, Bayettville, Georgia.

Wonderful. And that's and and is in the Atlanta area? Yes, sir. We're just south of the airport. We're about 45 minutes from the Atlanta airport.

Oh, wonderful.

Well, thank you so much for calling in today. God bless. Yes, sir. I appreciate you guys. Thank you, Brian.

So what say you? Eight six six three four eight 7884-866-348-7884. How do you recognize the servant? who doesn't want to be recognized. Right.

And that they're faithfully serving. You know, and to me, I was telling Dr. Carson that. One of the servants that I know is out there. Who were faithfully serving, and yet I'm sure received no recognition whatsoever.

is since I have a couple of nursing homes that I visit weekly, These ladies pray. Like and and it's amazing. They have lists. And they are and All these ladies that used to go to whatever church, they can't go anymore because they can't get out, or whatever the situation may be, they are still praying, I assure you. Just like your grandmother may have prayed for you, or what, you know, all these ladies in these churches everywhere.

And I just. Um I'm amazed. And I I I really know in my heart of hearts that Because they've been praying to me for years and years, I really feel like I've been blessed, my ministry's been blessed, et cetera, et cetera, because these ladies are interceding for. For all of us all the time. And I'm sure it's going on in churches tremendously as well.

I'm absolutely positive that's going on, that this is a big, big area of service that we all in some way take part in, right? I sometimes think, Robbie, from the baseball analogy that the worst. position in baseball Is right field. If you get put in right field, you must not be that valuable. And all of a sudden, how did you know where I played?

Because it's where I played. When you say to somebody, You know. Uh you could have a really great ministry. Uh a prayer.

Well Did you just relegate me? to right field that that that ministry is You know, you don't y y you can't do anything else now. Just go pray. And I'm sitting here going That that's one of the states. Big time positions.

You're at first base, you're at shortstop, uh, using that baseball analogy. You're the pitcher, yeah, because uh. The person who was Praying is asking God's power to be released. and to bring his favor and his anointing. And through the years to have prayer warriors and you do, you want to recognize them.

and let them know it means the world That you are taking time to pray for us.

So, how do you recognize the servant who doesn't want to be recognized? You got to be recognized just to call us, obviously. 866-348-7884. We would love to hear your ideas. It's a great idea.

866-348-7884. We'll be right back. Truth Time. You're listening to the truth network and truthnetwork.com. How do you recognize the servant who doesn't want to be recognized?

How would you recognize that? Do that. Great show for pastors everywhere. Let's do actually, Sunday School Leader, wherever. Like, it would be really, really good.

And I love what Brian called in and shared with us, you know, just a note. People love to You know, that God sees them. And I love what you spotted, Doc, in 1 Chronicles 9:30, right? Which today is 9:30, that, hey, God is going to see this and Again, that's the honor in of itself, is God is going to do it. You let us know 866-348-7884.

866-348-7884. Yeah, you actually have to serve everybody by sharing this idea. It would be wonderful.

So, Doc, this is an awesome idea right here. Yeah, when you when you think about the fact that every task that is done is vital. Um we had a college president at Liberty, and as he laid out his Philosophy. He said, I like to think of what we're doing as like being part of. a cattle drive.

And you've got all these people that are involved. and there's a guy out front that's the scout.

Now when you watch these shows, you usually just see the guys riding the horses beside the cows, but there's a there's a guy way back at the back with the chuck wagon. And he's got to get the food ready. And then there's those guys that are out. They're scouting. Where do we go next?

And how do we get the cattle to the water? And he says, I want every person to know: whoever you are at this school, whatever you're doing here, you are vital to our success. And I'm telling you, that just raised morale. And as I read 1 Chronicles 9:30, I'm thinking, here are these guys that are doing something that may have seemed, yeah, mundane. They're pressing some some uh Uh nuts.

Different olives to make oil, to make spices. Does anybody care what I'm doing? And God does. God cares about it. Yeah, let me tell you how much in Revelations chapter 7, actually, verse 3, it says, Here we got this angel, right, that came in.

You know, in this beautiful part of Revelation, it says, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants. of our God in their foreheads. Mm. He's got his eye on it, and he's got a mark for you. And that seal, like.

Is huge. Obviously, we got the Holy Spirit that's seen that as well. But we got Mike, the encourager, in Dayton, Ohio. Mike, you're on Truth Talk Live. What say you, Mike?

Well I'm not a pastor or a youth minister or Or I don't even cut the grass. Um, but I do a lot. Um, but I go around and I first thing I do is the the the person who greets you at the door. I mean, I give him a manly handshake. I give them a hug, I said and I make some comments about the Reds hat maybe, or the Reds are in the playoffs.

And they will lose to the Dodgers, just letting you know. Oh, okay.

Well, we'll see. Are they really? Are they both the Dodgers and the Reds? The Dodgers are playing the Reds tonight. And And I'm going to be in the back end.

This is game one of the wild card.

Well, how wonderful for Cincinnati. I'm just saying, Mike, for you guys. You know, it's not every day that you get your guys in there, right? That's right. And they knocked out the Mets.

And we love that, Mike. We love that.

Well, my wife definitely loves that. She's a big-time Ritz fan.

So big time. That's something we have in common and we love to watch. And Um And then even To move on to the church, the coffee maker. I mean, I love, we love coffee, don't we? And just as they tell the person the demand that this coffee's delicious.

and seeing the smile on their face, you know what I mean? And and just just saying how much you love that. And um And one more. I gave my pastor the other day during golf season $100. And I said, This is for you to go golfing.

I mean we just Just don't Don't spend that on anything else, but just go golfing with your dad and have a great time. and uh buy some buy some new balls, you know. And just encouraging people. at our church to keep keep the good Oh, I do. I I'm I'm telling you, we When you when you see it There are people You know, that are serving on committees that are taking all kinds of time.

Every single. Month. Every day. You know, that they're taken away from, and they're sitting through what. Probably some boring meetings, I'm just saying.

Yes. But listening and realizing that, oh, the pavement. Does have to be sealed, or oh, there is a crack in this wall, or oh, we do have to do something about. In other words, there's all these people that. that are so involved.

in in the ministry, whatever the ministry may be, that oh my goodness, I it just And so Yeah, I had real I have one more. I'm sorry. My my dad was a maintenance man at church, at our church. Church. Uh he you know, he didn't want any of nobody to say, Hey, I thank you for this or thank you for that.

But, um Boy, he sh He had a huge ministry there by just talking to young people. Um just encouraging people all over the place. Um, praying for for different situations in the church. Um Just he cleaned the toilets, but Uh he did it with his whole heart. And um Uh I'll never I mean, it just is amazing to me that that um how humble someone can get.

just by, you know Despite Serving God in that capacity. You know what I mean?

So. It and of itself is in its own way, kind of Mike, and you understand this because I know your servant's heart. That You know, the Bible says, work with your own hands. Mm-hmm. Shell.

And When you're doing that kind of work. Um It's really, really rewarding. Like, you know, okay, I got that done. You know, it was. It was well done and you know just Sometimes telling people They did a really good job on that, whatever it was that they did.

Um Because I know in most people who's secular jobs, they don't hear a lot of times you did well, right? Exactly. you go to week after week, month after month sometimes and You know, you're doing a good job, and you know the customers are happy, but You just don't hear that. That's a great uh, you've been doing great, Mike, you know, or Whoever. Yeah, and by you telling someone in the church, which is The Christian the the Heartfelt love that you want to give one another.

Um You just want to tell them how much that you're appreciated. We brought our grandkids into the nursery the other day And I I told a w a So, I didn't realize this one person was working in the nursery and is a good friend. And I'm like, oh, that is so cool. You're in here. That says awesome.

You know, and I just kept. You know, just loving on them, you know what I mean? Saying thank you for being, I'm so. grateful you're here that my that you get to watch my grandkids, you know what I mean? And Yeah.

It it's just it's wonderful to to to encourage one another like this. And it's It's a community that we're in a church. You're in a community. And you want to love one another. And and hear one another's needs and also one another's struggles.

Um Just, you know, it's just It's called a community. And that's what church is all about. You couldn't be more right. Yeah, I get it.

Well, thank you, Michael, as always. Thank you. It's beautiful. I love the subject. I do too.

God bless. Thank you for calling in. God bless you.

Okay. Uh bye-bye. Sadak? Yeah. Who is this bringing to your mind as you have seen all this for all these years?

Well, when we come back from the break, Mike stirred up something and I'm going to throw it a question. Um Do you know? Who cleans your office? Do you know the maintenance person? Do you know the janitor?

And we'll talk about that when we come back. There you go. When we come back, 866-34 TRUTH. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live.

Today's question. which we would love for you to call in an answer is how Do you recognize the servant? who doesn't want to be recognized. 866-348-7884 is the number to call in and share. 866-348-74844444444 7884.

Maybe there's somebody in your church, maybe your pastor, you know, or maybe, you know, just something that you've seen that, like, man, it's just. Blows me away how these people are so faithful. They show up. And and and they are completely surrendered. Like they are all in and giving every single thing they have to something that that That you would think was mundane, but they do it with such joy and passion that you're like, they make it look like the best thing you've ever seen in your life.

Who is that? They show up early, they stay late. First there, last to go home. And they're making things happen, and they're not doing it for recognition, but they are. Doing it, and there's just something about being able to say thank you.

And all this is coming from 1 Chronicles chapter 9, verse 30. And some of the sons of the priests made the ointment of the spices. Those few words, God said, I just want y'all to know, I'm watching you do. behind the scenes work. And so today's topic is how do we make sure people who are behind the scenes know that they are valuable.

And if you are one of those behind the scenes people, Thank you. Yeah. For showing up early, setting up chairs, making sure the carpet's clean, making sure the coffee's ready. Thank you for that. Getting bulletins ready, handing out the bulletins, giving that warm handshake, that greeting.

Robbie, it takes all of us to do the work of Christ. Yeah, it's a whole body. It's not just a pastor standing up there preaching on Sunday morning. No, there's a prayer team in most churches that's behind that pastor somewhere or prayed for him that morning, or you know, just you individually. That that That We're praying for that pastor's message that morning.

I can tell you, as a pastor, I And I can tell the difference, honestly, between churches. Like there's certain churches I speak at. Frequently, of course, I speak at my own church. And I know. that manifested there.

I'm going to get a download that's going to blow my mind. Like, God, I know, is answering. the prayers of people that that were praying for me. And so the whole party You know, everybody takes part in it. Everybody has their part to play.

And that. apothecary position that you talked about in the when you look at that verse It says that they made the anointment, but the word actually is more like apothecary. Like these people were pharmacists, they were skilled. They were highly skilled and I can assure you you know, having cleaned a few toilets in my life that It takes a particular skill. You just don't do it.

I can tell you I clean way more cars than the average human being because of being a Christian car guy. I started out washing cars in my line of work and detailing used cars that to do it right There is much skill involved. I was getting ready to say it takes skill to do that. And it takes experience, sometimes bad experiences, in order to figure out how to do it right. But, you know, it's a beautiful thing when somebody can do something like that, and they do it.

As a masterpiece, right? It's their Michelangelo when they do it, and you can see it, and you can see it in their spirit. And what a picture that is of Jesus, right? Because he said he didn't come. To be served, but to serve.

But to serve. And the greatest among you will be what? A servant of all. And it's not about titles, it's about towels. Jesus gave us that example.

He picked up a towel and washed his disciples' feet. I think about Mike's dad, a maintenance man, behind the scenes. He's making sure that the air conditioner works. He's making sure that the boiler works. Who thinks about that when they come into church?

That someone's behind the scenes making sure that you have a comfortable place to come to. Oh, and I'll tell you another group of people that, as a pastor, I can assure you. Ha ha ha ha. The the people that run the soundboard. And the computer that keeps up with like the hymn lyrics, maybe that's frustrating to you.

Oh my goodness, is that a hard task? Does that require skill? To get that. in line with what the people are singing and all that. But not to mention that, man, Yeah.

Working for a radio station, I understand the problems with technology. If anybody understands it, but man, to have people here. And so with that said, let me just tell you that there's we have some people behind the scenes here. One of them is Randy Epperson, and of course, my all-time amazing producer that I've had for the last few years. Nick Cornish, like he Saint Nick.

Nobody can tell you the difference if you are doing a radio show. Like I do. a lot of different kinds. And you have producers or you have whoever's in there and you can tell they're engaged to the show. They're obviously Very skilled and obviously bringing on man.

I mean, it makes all the difference in the world and how you feel, the confidence, all that stuff. There's just no, there's no experience, and you've had limited experience, Doc, but you know what I'm talking about, right? Absolutely. They're working at Liberty. I had two places when I came in on Sunday mornings that I wanted to go to.

And one was the sound booth. Right. Technology is the devil's playground. Fashion. Can we get an amen, brother?

There are a lot of heads shaking in the booth right there, I can share it. And so I would go and say, okay, guys, we've got to pray because the devil is going to be using you guys today. He wants to irritate you. And I just want to pray God's protection over you. And again, they'll showing up earlier.

And they're going to be staying later. Right. They're having to turn off all that equipment. They make sure that it stays maintained. They keep the batteries and the mic for the pastor.

There's so many little details there. And then I went by the maintenance office. Because uh these guys are the ones who set things up. And they also kept things clean. And it's important when people come in and they see trash everywhere.

Well, someone's got to clean that up. And I got challenged. I was blessed. Not only to work with students, but to have students work with me. And I had a student one time, a student worker, and he said, Hey, Dwayne, what's the name?

of the lady that cleans your office? And I was, oh wow. Um I know there's a lady that comes in every day at 3.30 and she takes the trash out and Oh, wow. And and I will say I it took me a moment, but I did remember. I said I think her name's Kathy, and he said, do better.

Mm-hmm. He said, You need to know who she is. She's doing a work here at this school. that needs to be commended. Thank her.

She probably has prayer requests too. And, you know, I'm here to be the campus pastor to the students, but he reminded me. You didn't get her birthday, Doc? Of all the people. You know, and date the word had not started at that point.

And yeah, now I got to go back and find out when her birthday was. That may be an inside joke. I don't mean to do that. But if you ever go to dinner with Doc, I mean, you can count on the fact that the waitress is going to get to ask when her birthday is, and almost the other people around will all sit together, and Doc's going to give them a verse. And it's going to be a real opportunity because, again, it.

Yeah. You know, everybody. Go. Everybody enjoys a relationship. Yeah.

Um you know, of some kind. And all of a sudden you're able to relate to one another because of the scripture. And uh yeah. And that's exactly right. It's the scripture that means something to you because it's your birthday.

which, you know, reminds me of our church. We we do an amazing thing when it's somebody's birthday. We have this little church and and Harvey, who's the head of the board, he he has us sing happy birthday to every single person. If we got ten birthdays like we did last Sunday, we're singing happy birthday to And, you know, he goes and gives them a pencil and they have to put money in this. It's all a thing, but I mean, it's part of the thing that makes Kildy Church Kildee Church, right?

And it's part of what, you know, brings us all joy. And him doing that, you know, it means the world. It just does. And it it Well, we would love callers to call in and tell us about different things they do. Pastors, who are those behind-the-scenes people who just are making it happen for you?

And take an opportunity with this radio show to say thank you. 866-348-7884. And Nick is here waiting for your call. And he's such a great servant. He loves to take your call.

Yeah, I can assure you that they absolutely do. And again, the music ministry, we haven't got to, oh my goodness. Like the hours that they put in. And the practices and whatever and they're You know, it it's not a week go by that I'm not going to get something from the the the lady that plays the piano wanting to know what we're preaching on so she can begin to pray and ask God what music might be appropriate and then she'll send stuff back to me.

So she's practicing that piece and working on that. And I know all that is going on and then choirs are practicing all over every week and taking time. You know, to do that, but I, you know, the cool thing for them is obviously. Like All that work. is a relationship with God.

Wh whether you're cleaning toilets or you're Fixing the parking lot, whatever it is, hopefully, you know, he doesn't want you to do things for him. He wants you to do things with him. That's it. That's it with me. Yeah.

Uh I want to come back to Robbie. I thought, what a great thought. People who serve on committees. Yeah. Yeah, I'm leaving.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Mm. That can be one of those thankless jobs. Especially when it gets heated. Yeah.

As you're trying to figure out what do we do next. And there are many people through the years who've served local churches as Finance Chairmans. and trying to figure out how do we uh feed the 5,000 with so little and um uh I was with a group the other day. It's a ministry called Word of Life, and the chairman of the Finance Committee on the board, not the chairman of the board, but this man, and he was probably in his 70s, and he got up and he talked about. How they work so diligently to make sure that every dollar that's coming into this ministry is being handled faithfully.

And so, for you that are serving on committees like that, Thank you. That's what today is. This is a day to thank people who are working behind the scenes. Yeah, I gotta tell you that that Recently I did a funeral. for a lady who was a hospice nurse.

Mm. Wow, what a ministry. To know her, you you wouldn't think that she was all that big in personality, whatever. Nobody has ever filled Like her funeral, you had to be there to see how many people came to honor her. Because though she seemed to live behind the scenes, so much of what we saw of external of her life.

She was changing lives all over the place quietly. How about you? 866-348-7884. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.

Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. Today's question, which you only have one segment left, so the Holy Spirit's putting it on you. to give us a call, please. Please, it's always such a blessing to hear. What God has put on your heart is way more important.

Than anything I could imagine. 866 is the number to call. 866-3487884. Don't wait. Just.

Dial it 866-348-1. seven eight eight four You know, I I I taught in special needs for twenty years at Calvary Baptist more than that maybe. But during that time We had a man by the name of Tim Moss. Um I would bet that not hardly anybody at Calvary would even have a guess who Tim Moss might be. But I know that he was in it way before I was, so he may have served thirty years.

And he showed up You know, always early. Did the things behind the scenes. If there was a picnic, he's the one cooking it. He's the one cleaning up. He's the one making sure that everything, you know, because if you know Robbie, Robbie will not get the details.

Like, I will not get the, you don't want to count on Robbie to bring anything because he will forget. And so. Oh, like I forgot the power cord to the computer. It was just not my skill set, okay? But oh my goodness, Tim.

Oh, Tim, He went to be with the Lord, but what a servant And his wife Carol, who's still serving that ministry today, I know what the those people mean to those families. Because again, if you can imagine if if you're a parent of a special needs child of person, because these are people in their thirties, forties, fifties and sixties, then it's a twenty four hour hyper-vigilant experience. You have to be watching You know, with eyes in the back of your head constantly.

So, to be able to go to church, leave your child, your, your, You know Special needs person with a ministry that you know they will not only. uh beloved but but be taken care of, you know, no no worries. But believe me, Those students loved him. You you had to see it. You had to see the affection and whatever and, you know, for them a consistent Like You don't want to bring in a different teacher every other week or something like that because they like things like I know what to expect when I get there.

And you could see the smiles and you could see the hugs and all that.

So, you know, one of the people that came to mind that I think that, you know, He never got any, to my knowledge. Recognition hardly to speak of, but oh my goodness, what a servant he was. And God knows he's he's got it.

Well, and that's the thing that I I wanted to convey from today's devotion that uh while you're doing something that No one else is gonna know about. You're you're pressing the olives to make olive oil that's going to be used in a in the lampstand. You're not the one putting the oil in the lampstand. You're not the one that's that's keeping the that fire lit You're behind the scenes. God knows.

God is seeing you, and there's rewards for that. To be found faithful, as you said right there, how important it is that every Sunday they're showing up. because it brings that confidence They know when they get there Well there's John again. And they feel comfortable going there. You have to have people that you can really depend on like that.

Yeah, if you're going to have a ministry like that, and the word I think of is actually Doc, it's faithful. Yeah. And Faithful has a lot of angles to it. but one of which is God knows he can count on you. I had so many students through the years that helped us with doing that, the campus pastor ministry.

We used to. pass out discipleship material in our prayer groups.

Well, for everybody to have a handout, uh They had to be counted out. And we're talking about 5,000 handouts that have to be now divided up into about 70, 75 per packet and then placed in the hands of each dorm leader. That was um Mundane work. And so, if you're out there and you were one of my work assistants, thank you for doing that because we couldn't have got the discipleship to the students if you hadn't have done that. And there are people every week folding bulletins and helping with a PowerPoint presentation.

You guys are you're the heroes. You're making it happen. And while you may not want the recognition, one of the things when I teach spiritual gifts, Robbie, the person who has a gift of servant They really don't want public recognition. They cower from that. But what they do want to know Is am I doing something that is important?

And that's why ministry leaders and pastors, when you know you've got someone who's serving, to say to them, Thank you for what you're doing. This ministry wouldn't work if it wasn't for your work. And it means the world to them. Yeah, a personal No, like the pastor Brian said at the beginning of the show, you know, something in writing, it means a ton. I'll explain this way.

And maybe you've heard me tell this story, but it's something I will never, ever, ever forget because it's so obvious that people never hear how good a job they're doing, or they never hear that their life is making an impact. They just don't do it.

So I taught high school, before I taught special needs, actually, I taught high school seniors and juniors. And one time I had this idea that I learned actually from selling cars. We called it the Mutual Admiration Society. And the idea in that was that each salesperson would go around the room and they would be there responsible to tell why the other salesman was such a great salesman and how they were going to sell a car that day.

Well, that was always a wonderful meeting, very uplifting.

So I thought, well, I need to do that for my Sunday school class. And so what I did. Was I took this big blank piece of construction paper and put a big red Ribbon around it, put it on over people's heads so that it was on their back. And then I gave every student in the class a a magic marker and I s you know, for about half the class at the time, I said, I want you to write on the back of everybody here how you think they reflect God and what about them encourages you. When you see them, you know, how do you see God?

And I sent them loose. And for a half an hour or whatever, they rode on each other's backs and they wrote a book. I mean, if you saw it, you would say, man, I can't believe how God just moved. I guess because he was answering my prayers, and I wanted this to work. Nonetheless, You know, as sometimes you do with classes that you really had a great time with, we had a reunion about two years later at a Christmas party.

And at that reunion, because there were three or four teachers that we, you know, we take, took turns teaching. And somebody said, well, of all the Sunday school classes over all the years we had you guys in high school, you know, which class do you remember the most? Because, you know, you think, you know, which lesson would it be on Exodus or Genesis or something? You know, oh, oh, oh. Two or three of them immediately jumped up and they said, It's had time that Robbie had us put those signs on her back.

I still have my. Paper, and the other one would say, and then, and lo and behold, most of those students still had that paper. Why? Because they never hear. Yeah.

Yeah. We will be quick. to fill out a card at a restaurant. to tell about what di went wrong. We have very seldom Writing what went right.

And that's part of today's challenge with this show. Um going all the way back to Brian. Um Catch people doing something right and say thank you. Write a note to them. The pastor's listening, and this is not to prod you in a negative way, but in a good way.

Just keep at it. We affirm you, but it's important. Write those little notes. I forget who I learned this from, but always be watching every day to catch somebody doing something good and let them know: hey, You really made a difference right there. Yeah, him catching that adult who bowed down and did the child's.

What a story he did. Tied their shoelace, yeah. Yeah, and it wasn't his kid. It was someone else, but he knew this kid needs his shoes tied. And so he, you know, he got down there.

You know, whatever that looks like, as you get a chance to do it, people need to hear. Yeah. We all do. And it's a neat opportunity because you know. Jesus loves to do it.

He loves to do it. And so you get to be his hands and feet when you're doing it because you're getting to be an opportunity to see what he saw.

So when you see something through Jesus' eyes, like obviously that pastor saw, Right? Then it's it's the time to say, Oh man, well done.

Well done, good and faithful servant. And that's that's what's going to happen one day. When we step into heaven. And why? Because even behind the scenes, Where men, women are not seeing it, God is.

And that's the one that matters the most. And for you that are serving in all these different areas of a church, God's watching. And your reward's going to be great.

So I'm hoping, Robbie, people are feeling the appreciation today. I know we go into October tomorrow and we start focusing on pastor appreciation. But before we get to pastor appreciation, I don't know. With Date the Word, I'd love to be able to stir up. Could this be behind the scenes appreciation day?

And hopefully, we're awakening people to the thought: hey, who's out there doing something behind the scenes I should be saying thank you to? and let them know how valuable they are. Yeah, it's just general appreciation, right? Yeah. For you to live that.

And if you're doing those jobs out there, know this, there is no Unimportant job. Every one of everyone involved is essential to God's work. It takes all of us. to do the work.

so that the work of the ministry can be done. Absolutely beautiful. Great topic, Doc, again. Don't forget, 1 Chronicles 9:30. It's because we did it on September 30th.

It's easy to put it together. Check out the date the word app. There you go. Well, thank you. Thank you.

Because our listeners mean the world to us. I appreciate you listening and. We appreciate your loyalty, the Truth Network. Yeah.