State of the Church: What It Means to Serve

Tom Shrader opens with a state-of-the-church address covering elder development, building plans, staff restructuring, and a growing vision for church planting across metro Phoenix. He then turns to Philippians 2:19-30, unpacking Paul's commendations of Timothy and Epaphroditus as models of genuine service—men who prioritized others' welfare over their own recognition or comfort. The teaching closes with a direct challenge to the congregation to pray, love sacrificially, serve in ministries, give generously, and hold loosely to leaders God may send elsewhere for kingdom expansion.

“If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, servant of all.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Philippians

Recorded: 2008 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 38 min

Themes: service, sacrifice, leadership, church vision, generosity, prayer, humility, church planting, elder, pastor, new to leadership, volunteer in ministry, feeling overlooked, church member, mentor, navigating change

Scripture: Philippians 2:19-30, Philippians 1:27, Philippians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 13:7, Mark 9:33-35, 2 Timothy 1:5, Acts 13:1, Revelation 2:3

Theological Themes: ecclesiology, church structure, servant leadership, eldership, philippians 2, biblical stewardship, pastoral care, kingdom expansion

Full Transcript

The Church's Role in the Community

What we get to share Christ with them is terrific — we love that. But we're there to meet needs. Right now, if everything fell apart this morning and it all went away, the community would probably say they lost something. But I think five or ten years from now, they're going to say they can't afford for East Valley Bible Church to not be here. So it's a wonderful process that we've begun, even if it is slow and difficult.

The Elder Development Process

Let me address a couple of things about this team. We have been charged not with the responsibility of developing this independently, but with putting it together so that the elders can approve it. These four men are not elders. We have begun a process with them that every elder, for the last three or four years, has gone through — it is the way someone becomes an elder at East Valley Bible Church.

There is a period of twelve to eighteen months where these men are involved in elder meetings. They are present, but they do not vote and they are not elders. At that point, if we want to continue, we will bring those names before you and ask this: if you know something good about them, we don't need to hear it — we already know the good. If you have concerns, those are the things we need to hear. We will do that for three or four weeks, and if we reach that point, we will call them elders and they will act as elders.

So they are not elders at this time. Which means, by the way, that we currently have four elders. Do we need more? Yes. These four are not designed to replace existing elders or simply build up that number. We continue to search for godly men and begin discussions with them about joining the elder board as well.

There is a white paper we have developed — it is not on the website yet, but it will be posted by the middle of the week. It has three sections: what does the Bible teach about elders, how do we govern here at East Valley Bible Church, and then answers to about half a dozen questions we are hearing repeatedly. Once it is on the website, you should be able to find it easily, and it will be helpful. If you have any questions, get in touch with your area pastor or a member of the pastoral team.

Changes to Staff Meetings

We have been meeting and meeting and meeting, and hopefully you are going to get the same answer from all eighteen of us, because we have talked things through extensively. I believe we are on the same page. I want to share a couple of things that have changed.

Staff meetings have changed significantly. Over time, as we became larger and more staff were added, an hour-long meeting would end up with fifty minutes of business and ten minutes of prayer. Now — and don't hold me precisely to the numbers — they are much closer to fifty minutes of prayer and ten minutes of business. We are trying to minimize the business portion while still being efficient and keeping things together.

I wish you could sit in those pastoral meetings, because you would love it. You would be so proud of the men God has brought to East Valley Bible Church. This process is slow and deliberate and methodical, and I will admit — this is not my natural style. For years I said I would rather make a fast mistake than a slow right decision. Well, I have made enough fast mistakes that I have learned I do not want to do that anymore.

We are talking about big things. In our first meeting, we had three agenda items. We got to the first one and covered about ten percent of it in two and a half hours. We were mistaken to think we would get through all three. We are asking questions like these: What has God done at East Valley Bible Church? What resources and talents has He brought here, especially in terms of human resources?

Recognizing What God Has Given Us

In a meeting last week, one of the men said, "We are fat as a staff." I told him I prefer the word "pregnant" — I have enough personal insecurities without being told that. But what he was saying is that when you look around that room, there is a great deal of firepower present. So we are asking: Where do we as a church want to be in five years? What are the resources God has given us? What are your individual gifts, and where do you see yourself fitting?

A couple of weeks ago, we passed out cards and asked everyone to list four things that are significant to them. On sixteen of the seventeen cards, church planting appeared on that list. I am therefore very confident that church planting is going to be a significant part of what we do going forward.

Three Questions People Are Asking

Let me address three areas that people are frequently asking me about. First: what about the building? As many of you know, we completed a master plan and have a plan to build a new worship center. We have taken anything related to the physical plant and put it on hold to be part of the broader discussion. That does not mean it is on hold for a long period of time, but it seems clear that we have questions to answer before we get to that specific conversation about building.

The second question I am hearing is this: Tom, where are you going? For some of you, I have good news, and for some of you, I have bad news — I am not going anywhere. Every plan I have seen has me in it. It involves stepping back from some of the day-to-day responsibilities, but my intention is to be part of East Valley Bible Church for as long as I live, in part through the teaching role and certainly by serving on the team. I have heard all sorts of rumors — someone told me they heard I was going to write a book and tour around the world to teach. If you believe that, you do not know me at all.

Church Planting and Dreaming Big

I am convinced — though I have no authority, nor have we voted on it — that church planting will be a big part of our future. And by church planting, I don't mean a church or two. I received an email between services that noted Metro Phoenix has a need right now for approximately 195 golf courses. During the next decade, a need will be created for an additional 57 courses. Of this total, one course needs to be added within the Chandler Gateway area every 3.5 years — that's projected over 25 years as seven additional courses. If the need for golf courses is that real, how much more is the need for gospel-centered churches? We want to be part of that, whatever that means.

We are not thinking small. We are dreaming big. We are saying, "God, what would You do?" Look around the room and see the people He has brought here — not just numerically, but consider the caliber of people, the teaching team, the men serving in area ministries, student ministries, children's ministries, and all the different ministries. They are strong, gifted, and talented. I don't think God brought them here so we can keep them all here to see how big and self-satisfied we can become.

I was watching a documentary on John Kennedy and the decision to go to the moon. In the early 1960s he said, in essence, we are going to put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade. Sitting here now, that doesn't sound like such a big deal. But if you rewind to 1960, people were saying, "The moon? We don't even have the metals developed to build the spacecraft or the capsule. We don't have the technology." And yet they did it. What we are talking about is far more important than putting a man on the moon.

I was at a funeral last summer for a man here in the East Valley — a genuinely great man who had tremendous influence in this area. Four times during that funeral they mentioned that he was a risk taker. He was involved in agriculture and education, and he was a risk taker. I am not talking about being foolish. But if there is anything worth taking a risk for, it is the expansion of the kingdom of God. We want to be about that, and I hope to be back here in two or three months to give you some specific details.

What You Can Do

At this point you should be asking what you can do. Let me give you four or five things.

The first is to pray. You have been praying, and you need to continue to pray for wisdom, guidance, and insight — that God would knit our hearts together and bring the right people at the right time in the right place.

Continue to Love

The second thing is to continue to love. I want to take you through something I read to you perhaps four or five months ago — the last verse in Paul's discussion on love. It is 1 Corinthians 13:7, where he says, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things." When I first read that I thought, that is just really hard. I don't instinctively do that. I have truly tried to live out 1 Corinthians 13:7.

Love bears all things. MacArthur writes that "bear" means basically to cover, to support, and therefore to protect. Love bears all things by protecting others from exposure, ridicule, contempt, and harm. Genuine love does not gossip or listen to gossip.

Love believes all things. In addition to bearing all things, love also believes all things. Love is not suspicious or cynical.

Love hopes all things. When it runs out of faith, it holds onto hope. As long as God's grace is operative, human failure is never final. God would not take Israel's failure as final. Jesus would not take Peter's failure as final. Paul would not take the Corinthians' failure as final. There are more than enough promises in the Bible to make love hopeful.

Love endures all things. It is a military term used of armies holding a vital position at all costs. Love holds fast to those it loves and endures all things at all costs. I love this one sentence: love will not stop loving. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is patient, kind, and does not seek its own — and then he closes with that truth. That is how we need to deal with one another.

Serve

The third thing is this: in the short term, we need you to serve. If you have been on campus and have never served before, now is the time. We talk about this all the time, from the very beginning — come, learn, and serve. I don't know that we have placed the emphasis on serving that we needed to over the last three or four years. We spend so much time on learning, but the reason we learn is so that God can begin to do something in our lives — in us, through us, and around us.

Children's ministry is a great picture of this. It is a very labor-intensive ministry, and the standard we hold there is very high. We will have somewhere between 800 and 1,000 kids, birth through sixth grade, here today. As you walk out, you will see that we are getting ready for what God is going to do this summer through Blast Xtreme. We cannot pull that off without you. We need you to sign up your kids, and we need you to be involved. And it is not just Blast Xtreme — it is Good Friday, it is Easter.

The Call for Men to Serve

I want to issue a special challenge to the men. We used to say couples only — if you're single, we'll put you in there, but if you're married, you need to serve as a couple. Years ago, we laid off of that a little bit. There is nothing more powerful in children's ministry than when there's a male presence in the room. Something happens. The demeanor changes. It's all different when there's a man there, whether it's a young man or an old man.

I see Brayden in the children's ministry on Sunday night, and he's right there with that boy. When there's not a man in the room, there's a whole different environment. Men, you need to step up. You need to sacrifice.

Sacrifice and Sending

That's the fourth thing. In Acts chapter 13, verse 1, the church at Antioch is getting ready to send some men out. And who do they send? Paul and Barnabas. Do you think that left a hole in the church? I think it did.

Here's what's going to happen. As church planting and church expansion become more real, you're going to have men who have really ministered to you get pulled right away from your life and sent somewhere else. You need to do a couple of things: let go easy, and hold on to the next guy. That's what you're going to see.

For a long time at East Valley Bible Church, we just never saw staff really turn over. You're going to start to see more staff turn over, and that's not bad — that's good. That's God raising up leaders and sending out leaders. But you're going to have to sacrifice in the middle of that. It's going to cost you. It's not fun. I've been around childbirth twice, and here's what I observed: it's painful and it's messy, but it's worth it. The same is true of church planting — painful and messy, but worth it.

Financial Faithfulness

The last thing is this: you're going to have to continue to be financially involved, and you've been wonderful in that. We finished closing out last year's books a few weeks ago. Operationally, in terms of expenses, we were 1% under budget. We take such pride in that. Your giving to the church was about 7% over budget for the year. We are so happy and grateful for that. But it needs to continue.

As you know, we've made some significant budget cuts in anticipation of difficult times. Everyone I talk to says things are getting tough, and I assume that's going to have some effect on us. We appreciate your involvement so much — please remain faithful in all of those ways. Those are concrete things you can do.

I'll be back in two or three months — don't hold me to that, but that's the target — to talk about the next phase of this, and I think it's going to involve a lot of church expansion.

A Perfectly Timed Text: Philippians 2

I could not have put together a lesson that better dovetails into this than what you're studying today. You're in Philippians chapter 2, and in Philippians chapter 2, we meet two men: Timothy, and a man named Epaphroditus, introduced in verse 25.

Paul laid out a principle back in chapter 1, verse 27: "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel." He's saying, I want you to live this way. Then in chapter 2, verse 12, he says, "Work out your salvation" — meaning, now that you're part of the kingdom of God, act like it. And now he gives us two wonderful human illustrations of what that looks like.

The Upside-Down Kingdom

Before we get to those two men, I want to read to you from the Gospel of Mark. "They came to Capernaum" — the "they" there is Jesus and the disciples — "and when He was in the house, He began to question them, saying, 'What were you discussing on the way?' And they kept silent, for on the way they had been discussing with one another which of them was the greatest. Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, 'If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, servant of all.'"

Greatness Through Service

"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve." This absolutely tracks with what Jesus said about Himself. It is interesting that Jesus did not say the idea of being great or significant is a bad idea. He did not shoot the disciples down for asking the question. I think it is okay to say to God, "I would love to be a significant part of what You are doing. How can I be a significant part of what You are doing?" What Jesus does is give a principle. The principle is contrary to the way the world sees greatness, because the world sees greatness through the accumulation of power — political power, economic power, wealth. He says no. It is not about being first. It is about serving.

Timothy: A Kindred Spirit

We have two great illustrations of this: Timothy and Epaphroditus. Verse 19 reads, "I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition." The name Timothy literally means "exalting God." Paul writes to him near the end of his life, in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 5, "I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and then your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well."

There is a heritage here. His father was a Gentile, but his mother and grandmother were Jewish. When they had this little boy, they named him "exalting God" — that was their aspiration for him. Paul says he knew from a young age Timothy was hearing these stories of faith.

Yesterday the phone rang and my grandson Braden was there. He said, "Hello, Papa." We talked for a bit, and at one point his mother Haley said, "Braden has learned that David loves God." How great is that — at 26 months? Does he fully understand it? No. But he is hearing it, and it is getting in there on his hard drive: David loves God. David was the man after God's own heart. Timothy had that same kind of background, with his mother and grandmother right there with him.

No One Else Like Him

Here is what we see about Timothy in Paul's value system — he is absolutely unique. Look at verse 20: "I have no one else of kindred spirit." Would that not make you excited if you were Timothy? To hear Paul say, among all these other people in all these churches scattered around, there is nobody like this man.

If we received a letter today from someone like John MacArthur, Chuck Swindoll, Tim Keller, John Piper, or Mark Driscoll, and they said, "I am sending a man to you and I have nobody else like him," we would be pretty stirred up about that. We would wonder what he must be like. We would probably assume he is a great teacher, that he can parse the Word of God with precision. Or perhaps he is a passionate and persuasive speaker, or a great thinker, or a strong leader who needs to be in every leadership meeting. That is what we would naturally think, and honestly, that is what we tend to look for.

But Paul says, "I have no one else of kindred spirit" — meaning the same character, the same values — and then he explains what sets Timothy apart: "who genuinely will be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests and not those of Christ." What sets Timothy apart is that he genuinely cares about people. He is not merely teaching the Word, though teaching is certainly involved. His agenda is your agenda. What matters to him is you. You are at the center of his concern. That is what Paul is saying: I have nobody else like this man.

What is so striking about that is this — if Paul had said "I have nobody who teaches like him," many of us would think, "Well, I could never do that." If he had said "I have nobody who leads like him," again, most of us would feel disqualified. But caring for other people? Anyone can do that. That is what makes this so compelling. Anyone can genuinely care about others.

Serving With, Not For

Paul is not saying Timothy does not teach or lead. We know Timothy was capable of strong leadership. In fact, Paul actually had to write to him and say, "Be careful, Timothy — do not be too timid. You still have to lead." But Timothy's whole motive was not to build Paul's kingdom or his own kingdom, but God's kingdom. He rejoices with those who rejoice. He embodies what Paul elsewhere calls love — he does not seek his own.

Verse 22 continues: "You know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving with his father." I love the way Paul frames this. He uses a father-and-child picture, and yet he does not lord it over Timothy. It may be a subtle point, but it jumped off the page at me — Paul says Timothy served *with* him, not *for* him. We are in this together, Paul is saying. I care about him the way he cares about you. "Therefore I hope to send him to you immediately, as soon as I see how things go, and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly."

Epaphroditus: Sent in Necessity

Paul then turns to a second illustration. "But I thought it necessary to send you Epaphroditus." Epaphroditus was the man who had brought to Paul what was likely a financial gift along with a report from the church at Philippi.

Your Background Is No Obstacle to God

Paul is now returning this letter with Epaphroditus. The name Epaphroditus means literally "belonging to Aphrodite," the pagan goddess. So when Timothy was born, his family said, "We are going to name you one who exalts God." When Epaphroditus was born, his family said, "We are going to name you as somebody who belongs to a pagan goddess, and you will serve her."

Here is what I want you to see. One man has this huge spiritual background and a wonderful legacy. The other is named after a pagan goddess. And yet Paul holds them both up as the real deal in the body of Christ. Your background is no obstacle to God working in your life. It is not an obstacle, and it is not an excuse.

I was in church all my life, and God still had to bring me to my knees to save me. Susan was never in church. She had no role model who did anything with church, no one in her family who modeled faith at all. Literally, the only times she was in a church before she met me were when her sisters got married.

Your background is neither an obstacle to God nor an excuse for you. God breaks through — there are no obstacles for Him. He is God. And it is not an excuse for you to sit in a small group with people who know all the Bible verses and think, "Well, I don't know them." Tough. Learn them. Let's go.

God gave each of us a past. Some of it is painful and awful, but He gave it to you for a reason. He will not only heal you emotionally and spiritually — He will use whatever that past holds in a powerful way as He begins to minister through you as you serve the people around you. And that is exactly what the word "minister" means: to serve.

Three Descriptions of Epaphroditus

Looking at verse 25, Paul gives Epaphroditus three descriptions: he is a brother, a fellow worker, and a soldier. Paul is saying this man is the real deal in the body of Christ, and he wants to unpack what each of those means.

He is a brother — Epaphroditus is a believer. He is a fellow worker. Back in the same chapter, verse 12, Paul speaks of working out one's salvation. Jesus says to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:3, "You have persevered and endured hardships for My name and have not grown weary." That is our friend Epaphroditus.

This morning I came across an article on retirement in a magazine I read periodically. The author offered a wonderful definition: retirement is when you become financially independent to the point where you no longer need to work for an income. It does not mean you stop working. It means you stop working for pay.

That is why when people ask me about my future, I cannot imagine not doing this somehow and somewhere. I cannot imagine just polishing rocks and driving around the country saying, "Hey, look at that canyon." We lived in Arizona since 1975, and I have been to the Grand Canyon exactly once. We were there for about three minutes. I said, "My golly, what a gully," and we left.

If you have never been to the Grand Canyon, here is a tip: it looks exactly like the pictures. It is not moving. Every once in a while a bird goes by. My kids wanted to find the gift shop. And on the way out, do you know where we spent our time? At the IMAX. They were sitting there going, "Oh! Oh!" I said, "Girls, you were just there, and now you are watching a movie of it."

Work Is a Lifelong Pursuit

The point about Epaphroditus being a fellow worker is this: work is a lifelong pursuit. When do I quit working? I quit working when I die. I may retire well before that, and in some ways the earlier the better — so you can get to work on other things where God can use you. You can come into a place like this and have a significant impact, especially if you are no longer drawing a salary. That would be something.

A fellow soldier means Epaphroditus is disciplined. He knows how to follow orders and how to give them. He knows how to endure hardship. He knows how to go without when necessary. He is combat ready, proven, and a team player. That is simply who Epaphroditus is.

Sick for the Work of Christ

Paul continues, saying that Epaphroditus ministered to his need when he arrived — and again, in the Greek that word "minister" means "served." He served Paul's need. But he was also longing for the Philippians and was distressed because they had heard he was sick. "For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow."

Paul does not tell us the nature of the illness, only that Epaphroditus was very, very sick — even to the point of death. And Paul did not heal him. God healed him. Then Paul describes something remarkable: Epaphroditus heard that the Philippians had heard he was sick, and now he is grieved that they are grieved over his sickness. He is so concerned about them that he wants to be with them, even in the midst of his own hardship.

Do you see how this mirrors Timothy? He is not concerned about himself. Paul even says, not even about me — he is concerned about you.

"Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly, so that when you see him again you will rejoice and I will be less concerned about you. Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me."

Paul is saying this man is serious about the work. He is a worker through and through. Oh, that God would give us people like him.

Holding Things Loosely and Moving Forward

God is looking for people who love Christ, who seek to glorify Him, who seek to advance His agenda rather than their own, and who look out for others and how they can serve Him. He does not object to someone saying, "God, I'd like to play a role in what You're doing in the kingdom. How do I do it?" His answer is: serve. And what that means is to have other people as your main source of interest as you use your gifts, talents, and resources to minister to them.

This is not an attempt to work you, manipulate you, or blow smoke at you. Where we are right now is the most exciting place we have ever been in the history of East Valley Bible Church. God has done some incredible things, and all you have to do is look around. You have a broken-down old real estate salesman standing in front of you who doesn't know anything, and a group of guys who started this who didn't know anything — and God did this. If you want a picture of God's grace and mercy, here it is.

But He is not done with us yet. He is going to do some very special things as we obediently use the resources, gifts, and talents He has given us. It is impossible to imagine that He allowed us to come here and brought this incredible group of people together just so we could teach one another, get together, and make this an intramural sport. He brought us here to engage our world and the world around us.

The Cost of What's Ahead

Here is what that engagement means: it is going to be costly. We are going to have people we love, people we get to work with, things going along smoothly — and all of a sudden we are going to have to send them somewhere else. In one sense it will feel like starting all over again, and yet there is a certain excitement to that.

The word will get out that this is a place where godly, talented men can come and learn, and where they will be used in God's kingdom with us behind them and alongside them. You are already beginning to see that happen. So we need to hold all of this loosely and say, "God, do something" — and then away we go.

We will keep you as informed and up-to-date as possible, because you have to own this. It is going to cost all of us — not just financially, though money is certainly a significant part of it. It is going to cost you relationally and emotionally. Some of you God is going to pull right out of this and have you move to the other side of town so a work can be done over there. We are simply going to ask Him to rip our hearts open and do whatever He needs to do in the midst of that. And that is genuinely exciting.

A Vision for the Valley

Father, thank You for Your Son Jesus, for His life and His death. We are so grateful for what You have done in our lives, and in no way do we take that for granted. We know that we have a responsibility to steward the gifts, resources, and talents You have given us. Allow us to think of something bigger than ourselves, something beyond ourselves.

Does the valley need golf courses? Perhaps. But does it need churches? Yes — a whole lot more than golf courses. Consider that seven courses are planned for the Gateway area in the next twenty-five years. Lord, we pray that there would be seven churches there as well. And there is Maricopa and Tempe and Mesa — that is just the East Valley, and it does not even get us through the rest of the valley. A church could be planted every week out of here and it would never be enough.

God, focus our thoughts, our vision, and our dreams. Let them be Yours. We do not want to run ahead of You, but we do not want to fall behind You either. Thank You for grace and mercy. We praise You in Christ's name. Amen.