The Good (under) Shepherd
1 Peter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Prayer
Thomas Monaghan was the founder, president, and chief executive officer of Domino’s Pizza.
From 1970 to 1985, Domino’s grew from a small debt-ridden chain to the second largest pizza company in America, with sales of over one billion dollars.
When asked to account for the phenomenal growth of the company, Monaghan explained, “I programmed everything for growth.”
And how did he plan for growth?
“Every day we develop people—the key to growth is developing people.”
Not some special cheese, not a tasty crust, not fast delivery schedules, but people! People are the key to effective leadership.
Often times, people look to the pastor for church growth, but the secret of church growth is not going to be found in the pastor. In fact studies in church growth show that less than 15% of people come to a church because of the pastor. The vast majority of people who visit a church come because a friend invited them.
and often times it also takes 6 or 7 invites before someone comes - so don’t give up.
Kids, inviting a non-christian friend over to spend the night on Saturday and then bringing them to church with you on Sunday is a great way to get them interested in coming and to get them saved.
Adults, inviting a friend to join you for church with an invitation for lunch afterwards is also a great technique.
Obviously, I believe in offering rides to people who need a ride.… and to that end, we need someone who is willing to take on a bus ministry.
Why am I sharing this with you?
Today’s passage comes from 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1-4 that is page 1,214 in your pew Bible.
This morning we are going to be looking at church leadership and the responsibilities of church leaders,.... - in particular the elders.
4 Slides (ending vs 4)
1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,
2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Our text begins by addressing the elders among you.
The term for elders is πρεσβύτερος which refers to elders - the term refers to older people in general. Those who are elderly are generally wiser and more experienced than those who are younger.
Today we value youth… and young people can bring a lot of energy and passion to an issue… but good leaders have been seasoned with time.
They have been around for a while and they have had time to learn
not only from their own mistakes, but
also from the mistakes of others.
There is a reason why the early church referred to the leadership team of the church as elders. - The leadership team is to be made up of well- seasoned leaders with a proven track record.
The first mention of the elders as leaders is found in Acts when the Antioch church send a contribution for the poor in Jerusalem.
Slide
30 And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.
The elders are mentioned again in
Slide
23 And when they {Paul & Barnabas on their 1st missionary journey] had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Other terms for the church leaders are bishops (also translated as “overseers'” , and pastors.
Bishops,( or overseers), refers to the general responsibility of guardianship. They “oversee” the work of the church or group of churches.
Pastor is the word for a shepherd and expresses the key duty of feeding or teaching the truth of God’s Word to the flock of God.
The term elder not only includes the pastoral team, but the entire leadership team of the church. Many churches have a group of people in the leadership team referred to as elders. In the Wesleyan Church, we call this group of people members of the Local Board of Administration (also known as the LBA).
Within the Wesleyan Church the health and growth of the local church is a shared 4-part responsibility, [and this is according to our Wesleyan Discipline]
with 1) the LBA focused on governing,
2) the pastor on leading,
3) the staff (employed or volunteer) on managing, and
4) the congregation on ministering to the community and to one another.
The local board of administration governs the local church primarily by
(a) clarifying its mission and stating the primary outcomes it wishes to achieve;
(b) setting guiding principles within which the pastor and staff have great discretion and freedom to work in order to achieve the mission,
(c) They also determine the budget, and may set other measurable goals.
Peter sets a tone for leadership. He identifies with those to whom He is writing by noting that He is their fellow elder. He comes to them with an attitude of humility, not of arrogance and authority… although He could have claimed authority. He appeals to them as their fellow elder.
You may note in verse 1(and in the gospel accounts), Peter personally witnessed the sufferings of Christ. He was there when Christ was taken prisoner. He saw Christ on the Cross. He went to the empty tomb and saw the grave clothes of Jesus lying there, but no body. He saw the resurrected Christ and ate breakfast with Him on the beach by the sea of Galilee.
He saw Jesus ascend into heaven. He also saw Jesus in all of His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration and so he could describe himself as “ partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed”.
That glory to be revealed is speaking of when Christ returns.. but Peter got a glimpse of it on the Mount of Transfiguration, and when Jesus walked though the walls and suddenly appeared in what was a locked room after His resurrection , and then again when Jesus ascended into heaven.
Related to this Peter “exhorts” the elders. The word for exhort is parakalew. It is a “verb form”
of the noun Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit - our paraklete.
Parakalew is made up of two words para and kalew.
Para means “with” and kalew “to call out”.
It describes someone who comes along side of you and calls out beside you. It could be used of a counselor in a court of law who comes beside you and represents you. He calls out on your behalf. He presents your case for you.
However, In this case it refers to someone who comes along beside you, stands with you and encourages you.
Peter is encouraging them to do the best they can. He is acting like a teammate on the sidelines encouraging them to go all out in the race.
Give it all you got… Go for it! Don’t give up now.… you are so close… you can do this… finish the race! Go for the ribbon!.
And what are the elders to be doing that Peter is encouraging them to give it all they’ve got.
Shepherd the flock of God, and
Exercise oversight
What does it mean to shepherd the flock?
What do shepherds do?
This goes back to what Jesus told Peter on the beach after his resurrection. You will recall that Peter had denied Jesus 3 times. Jesus then took Peter aside (after his resurrection and asked Peter 3 times if he really loved Him. Let’s look at the passage.
3 Slides
15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” [pointing to the boat and fishing nets - maybe the other disciples] He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
The word for tend - tend my lambs (or tend my sheep) is bosko and it means to feed them… to cause them to eat (which could refer to taking them out to pasture to feed them. Twice Jesus told Peter to tend or to bosko his sheep.
The second term Jesus used in verse 16 was “to shepherd” my sheep.
Shepherd is a more comprehensive term.
1st it includes to feed or pasture the sheep. Sheep are dumb animals. They will eat anything, even poisonous weeds. So the shepherd has to lead the sheep to good pasture land where they will get good nutritious food and not poisonous weeds. The shepherd will walk through the fields before they pasture the sheep and get rid of any poisonous weeds.
And they need to be led to water that is not impure , not too hot or too cold, and water that is not moving too fast nor stagnant. That is why the psalmist refers to “quiet waters” in Psalm 23:2.
Sheep are much in need of other assistance as well. Because their wool gives off a large volume of an oily substance that gets in their fleece,
dirt, grass, and wind-blown debris clings to it.
Since they have no ability to clean themselves, they remain soiled until the shepherd shears them.
Between sheerings that dirty, sticky accumulation must be cut away from under their tails or they cannot eliminate waste and will become sick or even die.
Because sheep also are naturally passive , they are defenseless against predators, and when attacked their only recourse is to flee, the shepherd must be continually on guard to defend and rescue the sheep from attack.
Sheep need a shepherd to guide them, provide for them, protect them, and sometimes also to rescue them from harm.
How then does an elder or a pastor do that?
The flock of God consists of people - not sheep. and we do not get our nourishment to help us grow in our Christian faith from grass out in the fields but from feeding on the Word of God.
Therefore as your pastor… and our job as elders… is to bring you to the word of God.
That is why we preach through whole books of the Bible verse by verse.
Slide
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
That is why I encourage you to begin each day reading the Bible and not only reading it but applying it to your life. You need a journal at your side.
One reason - the way we do our Bible study On Wednesday nights - is so you can learn how to study the Bible on our own and make application to your lives for yourself.
Our Sunday School classes direct us to the word of God.
I encourage our Sunday School teachers to take the central point of the lesson and make it a memory verse and to take time to teach the memory verse to everyone in the class. so as to drive it home..... and One of these days we are going to have the adult Sunday School classes reciting their memory verses in front of the whole church just like the children’s classes. I hope our adult teachers will take up the challenge.
Part of our job is to guide you to good teachers and steer you away from false teachers. I have warned you on multiple occasions that once someone has shown themselves to be a false prophet, you should not be listening to them. If they preach things that are contrary to God’s word - turn them off and don’t listen to them. Definitely do not send them any money.
I have also guided you to several trustworthy nationally recognized ministries like:
David Jerimiah - Turning Point
John MacArthur - Grace to You
Alistair Begg - Truth for Life
Erwin Lutzer - Running to Win
Robert Jeffress - Pathway to Victory
Chuck Swindoll - Insight for Living
R.C. Sproul - Legionnaires Ministries - Renewing the Mind
J.Vernon McGee - Thru the Bible & The Bible Bus
Mac Brunson at Valleydale Baptist Church - Birmingham, Alabama
There are other good Bible teachers out there, but I suggest that you start with these 9 and check out
Kingswood learn - our Wesleyan College -which offers free courses.
and by the way,,, all of these pastors will tell you that you need to be active in your local church and you need to be there on Sunday morning… because that is what the Bible teaches.
Slide
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.
They will tell you —
you need to be serving in your local church. You need to be supporting your local church and then, after that… then listen to their message or tape it so you can listen to it later.
and then, after you have first given to your local church
they would appreciate your support.
That is what good pastors do.
They will never ask you to send them money to get them to pray for you or
to send them money and then they will pray for your healing.
They do not have the power to heal… only God does. Prayer is always free.
So stop watching those weird podcasts on facebook… and listen to solid Bible Based preaching.
And if you want to grow.. you need to be spending time in your Bible. 4 chapters a day will get you through the Bible in a year.
And have a journal next to you. Start your quiet time in the Bible with a prayer I suggest from Psalm 119:18.
Slide
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Thy law.
or
2 Slide
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, And keep it with all my heart.
And then as you read… read for application..
Lord… what are you trying to teach me from this passage?
Is there a command here… I need to obey?
Is there an example of someone doing something that I should do? or Not do?
Is there something I should pray for?
Is there a sin I need to confess?
Is there a promise I can claim?
You get the idea.
These are all things I do when I begin my day with the Lord, and these are questions I am asking when I am preparing my messages as I try to train you up in the Lord.
We also want to stay away from bad teaching… Instead go to places where we know we can get solid teaching and the first place to start is in the Bible
or right here in church on Sunday morning
first in Sunday School and
then in our morning worship service.
Join us on Sunday nights. We have been more topical on Sunday nights, currently we have been going through a series - What we believe.
We also have Celebrate Recovery on Monday nights and
then Bible Study and prayer on Wednesdays. We have all sorts of opportunities designed to help you grow in your faith.
Peter also reminds us that we are to shepherd the “Flock of God”. I know this will take you by surprise, but there are times when some leaders start to think this is “My class” or “My church”.
It is not my class or my church - it is God’s church and we are his under-shepherds. If you are a member of the church or class, it is God’s class and we are the sheep.
Cornerstone does not belong to me and it does not belong to you… It does not even belong to the Wesleyan Church. Despite what may be written on some legal paperwork, It belongs to God and we are his servants.
God has placed us here for the moment, but He has given to us everything we have.
and…
He can take it away at any time. As members, leaders and elders in God’s church and family, we should count it a blessing and a privilege to be here and to serve the Lord.
How fast can we lose it? about 1/2 a second.
I was reminded of that this past summer when I suffered a mini stroke.
I had to tell Scott- our Assistant Pastor and Paul- our Vice-chair of the LBA, if you think I’ve lost it, let me know and I will step aside. I have had to work extra hard since then.
God also gave us some warnings against bad motives or bad leadership.
Don’t exercise oversight under compulsion
Leadership is a privilege and a responsibility.
A good leader will be an eager, willing ...servant-leader.... who ministers voluntarily.
The obvious point is that the good under-shepherd must
be diligent… rather than lazy,
heart motivated ... than forced to be faithful, and
passionate about his privileged duty .… rather than indifferent.
When our heart belongs fully to Christ and is driven by a sincere love for Him and for souls,… there is a strong and powerful internal compulsion that is far more effective than any external motivational pressure.
Serving the church is a passion, and not something we have to do.
This should be true for all of us. I can not think of anything I would rather be doing than serving the Lord. and that should be true for all of us because we are serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
We are serving the Lord who loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to redeem us back into His family. It is a privilege to serve the Lord.
We are not to serve for sordid gain.
Serving is not about getting paid.
Yes we should pay our pastors and the pastor who serves well should be paid well.
2 Slides
17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
The average salary in Swain County is approximately $40,000 . At our last district conference the recommended salary for pastors was $60,000. Double honor would be twice that. I can assure you that your pastors are paid no where near that,
and quite frankly our church could not afford us based on that because the total income of the church barely reaches $40,000. Most of our money goes to utilities, Sunday School material, and missions.
I can assure you, You don’t have to worry.
Neither Asst. pastor Scott nor myself… are serving the Lord for any kind of financial gain.
But there are other types of sordid gain … other than money. The Pharisees liked to have the best seats in the synagogue and respectful greetings in the market place. Paul described himself as a slave of Christ. Not even a servant, but a slave.
Those of us who are leaders need to keep that in mind. We are just that.. a slave of Christ. If you ask me why I do what I do… I am just trying to do what my Master has told me to do… to please him. and that should be the attitude of all of us.
The last warning is not to lord it over the flock, but proving to be examples.
The most important aspect of spiritual leadership and the best test of its effectiveness is the power of an exemplary life. Paul modeled this in his life and encourages us to follow his example.
Slide
16 I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me.
We , as members of the leadership team, are to set the example for others to follow.
So what are out take aways?
for those who are leaders
( and quite frankly for the rest of us, because we should be striving to become a leader… and friends.… You will be leaders for the next generation and for your own family):
We are to feed and shepherd … those who are around us and those whom God has given to us.
That means we need to start by feeding ourselves so we can feed others. Begin with the word of God. Be regular in church attendance and serve in your local church. Set the example for those behind you.
We don’t do it for money, or other forms of glory we are .… at best ..… slaves of the Lord and we do it to please our master.
We consider it an honor and a privilege to serve Him.
We do not boss people around, but strive to set a good example for them to follow and then encourage them to join us in following the Lord.
And let me remind you again as a final warning… stay away from false teachers and bad food.
Eat off of the good stuff and the good stuff starts with your Bible. Before you turn on the TV or the Radio, or pick up a romance novel or even eat lunch… let’s pick up our Bible and feed on the word of God.
Let’s pray
