Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

1 Peter 5

Would you bow with me?

Short Prayer

Roll through this intro FAST...

Last week we began discussing how our vision and mission as a church stems from the Bible and how we live that out as a church creates a culture within our church.

That culture should be violently divergent from that of the culture of the world.

Knowing who we are in Christ matters for those of us who make up the Covenant Membership of the body.

Last week we talked of several cultural values that we are striving for in the church:

For people to be KNOWN, LOVED, and to BELONG here…creating a culture of family

For people to know Christ and to fully surrender their lives to His Lordship:

Joining the body through Covenant Membership

Baptism

Devotion to be a Discipleship

Devotion to become a Disciple-maker

Self-feeding on the Word

Serving with your TIME, TALENTS, and RESOURCES

We value communication

Two we didn’t mention, but must is: Diversity and social justice in the world that would be pleasing to Jesus.

We also value Generosity.

We want our church and our culture to be one marked by living open handed, not tight fisted.

and most definitely, we value Theology and Worship

And one of our cultural values that I said last week that we are striving for, yet over and over I feel the struggle of how foreign this value is to our sense of social-intolerance, traditionalism, and our ever present and joyful facade that everything is okay, when it’s not.

The value we struggle with most in both society and especially in church is transparency.

Transparency makes us uncomfortable.

Look right at me God didn’t call us to be comfortable, he called us to suffer for His namesake.

As we have been talking about becoming a more Biblical structured church instead of a church built on man-made traditions, I’ve made some of you very uncomfortable and the Holy Spirit has made me very uncomfortable, as well.

Let me clear some things up first before I draw you into this text and how transparency fleshes out, especially in pastoral leadership.

I have always tried to stand before you as honest as I can allow myself to be with you, in my own struggles.

Over the past few weeks as we’ve talked about Church leadership: elders, deacons, and the Biblical role of women…I’ve made some waves.

Some that are much need because you and I need to be stirred by the Word of God to what he says.

But I’ve also made some mistakes.

I’ll explain:

Many of you are uncomfortable; some with the thought of moving to an elder lead church model, and others because of my challenge to re-examine how we view the God’s Word by not simply taking it as it has been presented by one school of thought.

The mistake in which I made is when dealing with a subject like the Biblical role of women in the church, I left my own stance in the balance, confessing that I struggled with the clarity of how some interpret it.

The truth is it is unclear.

Scholars have argued over it for centuries, but some pastors have landed on one-side or the other and state “this is what I believe, and this is what we believe as a church.”

I tried to play Switzerland and messed up.

So before I give you my Biblical stance on where I stand on the topics of elders, deacons, and women.

I first want to deal with what I am called to Biblically as your pastor.

And let me warn you... I’m going to make you uncomfortable.

Here’s why:

A Biblical culture of transparency is based on Biblical authority and vulnerability of its conviction.

Pastoral Authority - The Apostle Peter teaches us this about my role as an elder, overseer, pastor, shepherd and how I am suppose to lead the flock.

1 Peter 5:1-3

v.1 is the Apostle Peter exhorting (strongly encourage or urge [someone] to do something—Like come on guys!!!! Do this and do it well!!!) fellow elders to v.2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you.

Press Pause

Look at what v.2 is saying… shepherd the flock that you have; that is among you, not like, the flock you are dreaming of.

The call of a pastor is to shepherd those who he has.

And believe it or not that’s exactly what I’m trying to do in this series, by calling into question what you’ve grown up believing your whole life in church.

For those of you who are just starting to walk with Christ’s church this may not be as difficult for you.

You bring less baggage to the argument.

If anything you have second-hand, Bible-belt saturated culture where you always heard about or revered a deacon as one who has authority in which you submit too.

So you may feel somewhat uncomfortable, but not near as much as those who have grown up in a traditional Southern Baptist church culture.

I know I represent and have made my stand on not being a “traditional” baptist pastor…but that’s not a black and white statement.

Because not all tradition is bad.

I’m all for Biblical tradition.

What I tend to challenge others on is what I call man-made tradition, or a more affectionate term that I’ve come to love: “maw maw theology.”

Lets tease that out…what I’m saying is that I am trying to shepherd you in a way that causes you to read the Scriptures for yourselves.

I am trying to shepherd and foster among our flock a high value on the authority of Scripture, the redemptive plan of God through His One and only Son, Jesus, who bought us who have been awakened to His goodness, with His blood.

I’m trying to shepherd you to submit to the nudge of the Holy Spirit that has been deposited in you and that advocates for you in then broken place.

So as I shepherd those of you who I have, the goal is to make you look at Jesus, submit to His authority, by which God’s grace cracks into your heart a sliver of faith, and allows you to understand that you and I are broken and that we need a Savior.

I Shepherd you to allow the Holy Spirit using me as a vessel to press you into His Holy Word and with each verse you inhale and chew on, I’m praying the Spirit of God takes a crowbar to that sliver of faith in your heart and He goes to work on you in a way that is violent, painful, convicting, while at the same time freeing you up to see you don’t know what’s best for you.

The God who created you and rescued you does.

And that Holy Spirit crowbar would crack open a transformative work that allows you to get free from the bondage of sin, an all up in and sold out for some Jesus!

And in doing that I’m trying to keep your idol worshipping heart from attaching yourself to any pseudo-authority that you think I may have, because I have none, I’m just a broken man who has gotten really good at sinning through-out 43 years and somewhere along the journey the Holy Spirit crowbar opened up something in me to realize that my way is death, but God who is rich in mercy has a bigger plan for me.

“Take your jack-up self and go preach my Word to some jacked-up people so that they might be awakened to the truth of my Son Jesus.”

So here I am.

I stand before you not an authority but one who welds the authority of the Scriptures of the Holy God who made everything that was made…for His glory alone, not mine, not yours…His.

I am trying to shepherd you and live out this Scripture as the Apostle Peter has called us too, and why does he call me to that?

He tells us in at the end of v.1

He witnessed the suffering of Christ, but is also a partaker in the glory that is going (future tense) to be revealed.

He calls me and other men, other elders and shepherds to do what Christ called him to do…so that we would build a culture and a community of people who bask in the glory set before us by Christ Jesus, Himself.

But Peter is specific in his instruction...

This is a struggle for me.

My brokenness craves to domineer and control and to seek fame and self-seeking glory, and I smell it on me and reeks of death.

Yet it is the Holy Spirit who is actively working in me as the Apostle Paul says, “from one degree to another” to transform my heart, slowly…yet in a way that awakens me daily to fight on, so that I might be an example.

I fail at this.

You know me.

But if anything, see past the brokenness of my flesh and see the hope that if Jesus can use me, surely He can use you.

A Biblical culture of transparency is based on Biblical authority and vulnerability of its conviction.

2. Transparent Servanthood ()  Transparent servanthood is the posture of heart from which the shepherd leads.

This is from a place of humility and grace.

So that the sheep would live out this same humility and grace with one another.

A Biblical culture of transparency is based on Biblical authority and vulnerability of its conviction.

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I must shepherd you in a way that you are constantly looking forward to the Chief Shepherd.

Like when you look at me, I’m the guy who is lovingly and provokingly trying to stir your affection toward the Chief Shepherd, Jesus.

Which requires me to “clothe my self in humility” which is not my go to move.

But prayerfully my transparency to vileness in which I can stoop (I’m capable) would again show you how powerful the transformative power of the gospel is!

You are called to submit to my oversight, as I submit to Christ’s oversight.

We are submitting humbly together as Christ’s bride the local church.

Why?

So at the proper time God may exalt you.

But it’s uncomfortable to submit.

But necessary.

A Biblical culture of transparency is based on Biblical authority and vulnerability of its conviction.

3. Transparent Suffering () Transparent suffering is the call of the shepherd to not walk as one under immense pressure, but trusting in God’s redemptive plan, accomplished through the cross of Christ.

Fully knowing that whatever is suffered in this sinful world is temporary.

Peter instructs:

1 Peter 5: