Jerry W. Campbell
Regional Overseer of Florida and Georgia

email: tcogwmb@comcast.net

The Church of God
2009

Florida / Georgia Regional Convention

Regional Overseer’s Address 

“GETTING READY TO LEAVE THIS WORLD” 

INTRODUCTION: 

The words of the old gospel song entitled “getting ready to leave this world” ushers in a great spirit of rejoicing and shouting to the blood bought saint of God!  It goes without saying, keeping our record bright, watching both day and night, is necessary in being prepared or being ready to leave this world. Accordingly, the Word of God specifically identifies “who” will be ready for the rapture…those “who” will be ready to leave this world at the return of the Lord? I Thessalonians 4:16 – 17 explains “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 

A further description of “who” will be ready is found in Revelation 19:7 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”  

The Bible gives scripture after scripture identifying the participants of the prophesied, soon-to- come events known as the rapture and the marriage of the Lamb and His wife. Let’s review a very few: 

The Lamb is identified by John the Baptist in John, chapter 1, verse 29:  “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”   

John continues to identify the Lamb and His wife as The Bridegroom and The Bride of Christ in John 3: 28 – 29. 

As well, Paul references the Bride of Christ in II Corinthians 11:2 in this measure…“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.  In referring back to whom Paul is addressing we find at the beginning of his letter that he calls them “The Church of God.”  Therefore it is summarized this way…The Church of God (or the Bride of Christ) has been espoused to one husband (or The Bridegroom, The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ) to be presented as a chaste virgin to Him! 

The Bride of Christ…The Church of God is therefore the only one making herself ready, or in other words, SHE is getting ready to leave this world!   

As members of The Church, the Bride, we must each and everyone do all that is necessary to make ourselves ready. As ministers of the gospel we must do all that is necessary to help those under our watch and care “be ready” as well as warn those around us…”get ready!”  Time is winding up.  The Lord is coming soon and we MUST be ready to meet Him in the air. 

SECTION I -   THE MINISTER’S BIBLICAL RESPONSIBIITY 

God called ministers must possess and exemplify a getting ready to leave this world spirit at all times. There is no time or room for slothfulness, complacency, impatience, discouragement or being lord’s over God’s heritage. The minister must exemplify being about the Father’s business and do good business for The Church. He or she must be long suffering with every man, always showing a genuine spirit of encouragement. The pastor, in specific, should always smell of sheep…that is working among them and with them; not lording over them. The ministry of God in His Church must realize that God does not call perfect people; God calls His people to perfection.  The ministry holds a grave responsibility to this end as recognized in Ephesians 4: 11 – 12: “And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”  It is the responsibility and calling of the ministry to live above reproach at all times.  To live otherwise will hinder a minster’s effectiveness and serve as a stumbling block in the perfecting of the saints.  Every aspect of the minister’s life must measure to the Word of God in order to help those to whom he or she is ministering to “get ready to leave this world.”  God help us fulfill our biblical responsibility as ministers of the gospel.  Help us Lord to lead others to a state of readiness…to a state of perfection. 

SECTION II -  AN ORGANIZED AND STRUCTURED MINISTRY 

As I traveled throughout the region this assembly year, I witnessed a need for better organization and structure for our churches and other ministries.  May I say here, through many years of experience in the ministry, I have come to better understand that it is not all in what we do when we come to church or when we are involved in other ministering activities that makes the experience of either special, but it is everything we do before hand. Organization and structure are both biblically based attributes in obtaining God’s favor on our endeavors.  God has never been hap-hazard and He expects no less from His people. As soon as we fulfill one responsibility of ministry, we are accountable to God to begin seeking His will and preparing for the next. God ordained and anointed organization and structure includes, but is not limited to, notifying everyone who will participate in the services BEFORE the service begins.  Therefore, those who lead in worship, those who sing, and those who minister through devotions or messages will have sufficient time to fast and pray over and find the will of God for their responsibility to bring glory and honor to our Lord in their assigned duty.    

As well, there should be a plan B or a back-up plan in reserve in case of emergencies or unexpected situations.  This will help eliminate definite hindrances to what God has in store.  It would, therefore, be better to forgo a special song than put the singer on the spot who is unprepared…who has had no time to seek God.   

The Church of God advertises and announces that services begin at a designated time. Periodically there may be a substantial reason in not starting on time, but it should never be the normal practice.  

The scripture encourages that whatever our hands find to do, do it with all our might.  This includes seeking out God’s will and preparing through an organized effort that which the Lord has inspired. 

SECTION  III – FEEDING GOD’S SHEEP 

God called and inspired preachers of the gospel are commanded to feed the Lord’s sheep.  

(John 21: 12 – 18): In verse 12 the Lord was giving the same instructions to his disciples as He does today…Come and dine.  Without question the minister MUST pray, fast and study to feed the sheep of The Church of God. The message MUST come directly from the Lord through His Word.    

After dining with the Lord and receiving the meat from His table, the disciples were challenged with the question, “Lovest thou me more than these?”  THESE WHAT?  THESE FISH!  They had just caught a draught or a net full of fish by obeying the Word of the Lord.  The fish represented all of Peter’s ambitions, hopes, and dreams for his future and prosperity. The Lord was asking Peter… “do you truly love me more than these fish that you have built your whole life around? If so, feed my lambs!” 

The second time the Lord said to Peter, “Lovest thou me?” He followed with these words:  “Feed my sheep.” In other words what the Lord was stating to Peter was “perserver…help them grow…nurture them…and continue to feed my sheep.”

I would like to use the following example that the Lord pressed into my spirit about the need for all people to be fed natural food.  When anyone gets hungry they begin searching for a place to eat. When they find a place that has advertised good food, they will give it a try.  But if the service is bad and the food is warmed over and stale, their strong desire to be fed turns to a stronger desire to find some other place to eat. 

God’s sheep inside and outside The Church are hungry for God’s Word. The Lord is still commanding today… “Feed my sheep!” When the shepherd is feeding the sheep from God’s Word, he or she will not have to scold or prod the sheep to come and dine. They will eagerly come because it is time to feast on God’s Word. 

In verse 17, the Lord said to Peter the third time… “Feed my sheep.”  This is the third part of the last days Church of God. Therefore every pastor and minister should be continually receiving from God’s Word and faithfully feeding God’s sheep. If you are not currently under appointment as pastor, regional or local church worker, you still have the responsibility to feed the sheep.  

There is yet another lesson to be learned from John 21: 20 -22 

“Then Peter turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following: which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. “ 

Before Peter could be used of God the way God desired to use him, he had to lose his suspicious nature and get his eyes off of what other people were doing and follow Jesus for himself.  After this was accomplished in his life God used him to preach one message and five thousand were added to the church.  As well, there was enough power in his ministry to declare “silver and gold have I not, but such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk!” People had so much confidence in his life. They knew that when his shadow passed over their loved ones, they could be healed.  His ministry was full of the power and glory of God!   

Peter made more than one mistake while fulfilling his ministry.  BUT…when he listened to the voice of the Lord and obeyed…when he took his eyes off people and walked in God’s will…look at what was accomplished for the honor and glory of God! 

As the ministry in this region, let us learn from Peter’s experiences and watch God work!! 

CONCLUSION: 

Our thrust in the region this year is to Move Forward!  This will be accomplished by God’s Spirit helping us fulfill our biblical responsibility as ministers of the gospel.  As Regional Overseer, I encourage and challenge every minister in this region…feed God’s sheep what thus saith the Lord.  Be prepared in every aspect of the work. The Church of God is the apple of God’s eye…He deserves nothing less than our very best.  We ARE the Bride of Christ.  Let’s represent her in the best way possible.  When we do our part to be all He desires…He will, without doubt, do His part.  In so doing…The Church of God in Florida and Georgia WILL MOVE FORWARD! 

I am fully persuaded that this region loves the Lord and His Church!  I have been blessed in our travels to see the level of dedication and commitment.   My responsibility as your overseer is to help us move forward by realizing the areas of our ministry that need direction and guidance.  I am committed to fulfill my responsibility.  Bringing them to our attention is meant for the sole purpose of helping us be all that we can in helping us move forward.   

The Lord has given direction in the avenues of teaching and training.  Rather than a Minister’s Convention this year a Minister’s Retreat will be scheduled.  Every pastor and regional appointee will be encouraged to attend.  Details will be forth coming.  

As well, God has given inspiration to undergird our smaller local churches with evangelistic crusades.   

My wife and I have been blessed beyond measure to work with you this past year.  And now we look forward with great anticipation to what God has in store for the new year.  There is nothing but victory on top of victory ahead!  Will there be challenges for each of us?  Yes!  Will there be difficult situations to face? YES  But…as the family of God…as The Church of the living God…let us be found MOVING FORWARD…by God’s Spirit!  Let us be found…GETTING READY TO LEAVE THIS WORLD! God bless you.  We love and appreciate each and every one of you! 

Jerry W. Campbell
Regional Overseer