Reminders During Troubled Times

Good morning church, I pray all is going well with you this morning, it wont be long now until we are all back together and worshipping together, we so look forward to that day!

Turn with me in your Bibles this morning to 1 Peter 5 as we bring our study of the book of 1 Peter to a close I would like to speak with you this morning on this subject.

Timely Reminders, for Trying times

I was speaking to a friend not long ago and I asked him where he was going to church and he said oh I have no interest in organized religion anymore. Then he told me about several dissapointments he had experienced within the church the heart of what he was saying to me was simple. The church isn’t what it ought to be so he decided that it would be best for him to be a lone ranger Christian with a personal faith in Jesus Christ.

I think there are alot of people who feel this way.

now today as we come to the last passage from Peter as he deals with struggles in the Christian life I want you to see what Peter has to say about the church and the churchs destiny.

This truth this morning can open up a new phase of the Christian life that many people want, but many simplr dont know how to grasp.

You see many people come to faith in Jesus Christ and its not just that you begin a new life it is also that you become part of a new family. That is very different from other religions. You see you can be a bhuddist, of a hindu, and you can do those religions in private. They are paths that if you choose them you can walk entirely alone. But Christ calls His followers to walk the road together.

Each one of us walks this life alone but when we come to repentance and faith in Jesus there we meet each other and it is at the cross that this new family comes together and we do the Christian life together.

look at the beginning of chapter 5

1 Peter 5:1 NKJV

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:

He speak about elders and how they are to be stewards over their sheep but he brings them together under a flock and He puts them under the care of shepherds.

This reminds us that this whole letter is written to little communities of Christians suffering troubling times together.

1 Peter 1:1 NKJV

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

This is what a church is

A church is a community of believers in one location who have been brought together and have one thing in common they have all experienced the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

God’s purpose is not just that you and I should follow Jesus Christ but that we should also be part of a flock of Gods sheep under the care of a chosen shepherd or under the leadership of Gods teams of shepherds and undershepherds. Notice how Peter talks about the flock under your care.

So lets think about the flock, about the shepherds, about the dangers the flock faces and the destiny that belongs to all of gods people together.

The Flock

One of the exciting things happening today there is a new interest in community, after years of blocking oursevles off and never creating relationships I think there are more people ever especially after this time we have been through who have seen the value of being together and doing life in relationship with one another.

An authentic family will reflect all of the struggles of the people who make up the family unit

this is important because I think this is what my friend had an issue with. People come to church thinking they are entering into some sort of super spiritual organization where things are perfect and everything is great but this is not the case. In every family there are issues and together we have to overcome those issues to glorify Christ and maintain unity with each other.

But if you look at church that way then you will be let down.

This is what happened to my friend because when he looked at the church he didn’t like what he saw.

But many of us when we look in the mirror we don’t like what we see either.

The church is simply made up of a group of sinners knowing they need Jesus.

In our search for a perfect authentic family of God let’s be realistic we all are sinners and we all struggle. We cant set one standard for the church and set another standard for ourselves.

The church is not a club for nearly perfect people, the church is a hospital for recovering sinners.

We should expect that people at every stage of their walk with God are going to struggle with sin.

We should look for it and seek to help one another not see it and judge others for it or be surprised by it.

2. An authentic Family will have difficult people

Bottom line here you will never be deeply committed to any church if you seek to find a church without people who are difficult to deal with.

this type of church simply does not exist

but we are to embrace everyone within the body with as much of our hearts and genuine faithfulness as we can.

I have a picture in my mind of a Christian standing in heaven saying to the Lord I love you, and the Lord replies then if you love me why did you not care about my church?

the church which I sent my son to die for?

The church in which I am the head?

The believer looks up into the face of Jesus and says Lord you are wonderful!

but the body is sometimes very unattractive, and Christ says if you knew anything about me you would have learned to love things that are sometimes unattractive.

Thats real

3. an Authentic Family is chosen by God not chosen by us

This is important bc its not hard for us to choose a few friends who we get along well with bc were all alike and we create a group around a common interest. Now there is nothing wrong with that good thing but the authentic Christian church involves more than that.

Gathered not chosen

You see the first family God places us in is our genuine family. You can choose your friends but you cant choose your family.

Now we dont choose our family but our family are the people God places next to us, now they may be awesome, they may be terrible, but they are the people God placed in our lives and the way you interact with the people God puts in your life as family will have an shaping impact on the course of your life.

For example if you run away from them, that will become a pattern in your life, if you can find a way to forgive them it will become a pattern in your life if you hate them it will become a pattern in your life, if you love them it will become a pattern in your life .

Now its the same with the church bc the church is the family of God it is the community of people who have been gatherd together by God to be a spiritual family with one another and the way I respond to the church family God has placed me in, plays a large part on the type of Christian I become.

So today you have people who they don’t like something at the church they have been placed by God within or called to, and now they decide lets go and look for another church to be a part of.

Never praying never asking god if He is moving them rather just picking one out there are so many options to choose from now adays.

Now let me be clear once again, if the church you attend is not sound in their doctrine if they are making questionable calls when it comes to biblical marriage, preaching of the word, what God has clearly commanded then it is time to leave and find somewhere else for the spiritual betterment of your family.

However if the church is committed to Gods word and you feel God leading you to this place then commit and if something goes wrong dont simply up and leave without consulting god for an extended amount of time.

So these relationships in the flock of God are extremely important in the shaping oif spiritual character.

it is not just God wants you to be a follower of Jesus but He also wants you to be a part of a family where you are discipled.

Now one of the things that you may have noticed if you were with us before the COVID stuff began was that we were in the process of forming discipleship groups.

Normally we allow you to choose which group you wanna be a part of however in allowing spiritual leadership to form groups you allow people to seek God with people they do not normally connect with. Which is part of loving others who are different than yourself.

Its hard and uncomfortable at times but with the few groups we were able to form before all of this stalled us out there have been deep meaningful relationships built between members who had never interacted with one another vitally important.

The Shepherds

Now notice secondly the Shepherds now any flock has to have shepherds

He speaks about elders in the church and this is referring to spiritual leaders, not neccesarily according to age but spirtual maturity. these are elected or appointed to be the overseers of the flock. Now we know that Jesus is the great shepherd and overseer of our souls, and again in verse 4 he talks about Jesus as the chief shepherd but he also speaks about these elders to care for the flock. They are overseers do you see that word there?

1 Peter 5:2 NKJV

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

We all know what a Shepherd does He cares for a searches for the sheep.

One of the blessings of being a part of a church family is that we come into a family of others who care about our spiritual well being.

This is the place where you are fed and nourished and it is the responsibility of spiritual leaders to make sure you are maintianing good spiritual health.

the name for Shepherds may vary but the principles are the same. Pastors of course are shepherds, deacons are shepherds, Sunday school teachers are shepherds, D Group leaders are shepherds, If all the shepherds work together then the church can be cared for in the what God intended.

Notice this Peter now puts out 3 pitfalls that usually trip up Shepherds:

This is important for leaders, but also for you if you are not bc it helps you know how to pray for your leaders.

How do you pray for your deacons? How do you pray for your childrens minister? How do you pray for your pastors? Minister of music?

Peter mentions here some primary battles for spiritual leaders (verse)

Loss of vision

A Christian leader starts off with great passion to serve Christ but that 5 10 or 20 years later he has got into a dull routine in which ministry can be just another job to do. this can heppen from discouragement and frustration. It can happen because Satan is at war with the leader and sneaks in to buffet him

Another meeting to go to, another sermon to write another counseling session

That kind of an attitude kills ministry.

Peter says make sure your heart is still in what you are doing, dont lose your vision, dont lose your passion, dont let this become some dull routine that you just do bc your supposed to!

do it bc you are willing!

Pray for pastors and deacons and SS teachers, and D Group leaders for motivation focusing onChrist not losing their vision or passion but that we will continue to have proper motivations and Satan will not shipwreck us as we seek to serve the Lord

2. The desire for gain

Notice he says this is a pitfall for spiritual leaders

1 Peter 5:2 HCSB

Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but freely, according to God’s will; not for the money but eagerly;

the Bible is honest

Peter says a second danger for Christian leaders and He is obviously talking about Christian leaders employed by the church

It revolves around money

It is interesting because when you have a family to care for this can become a stumbling block.

There have been offers that have come my way over the years, even one where they were going to pay me a very large salary, and to be honest thinking about the money it was very tempting.

But the thing that kept me here was two fold, and our church has blessed me and my family they have cared for us.

I did not feel God calling me there

I love you

that is all

I had a friend tell me one time Kyle before you enter ministry you need to decide whether or not you will do it for nothing.

You have to determine how important money is for you.

If you dont do that now it will haunt you all your life I am so glad he said that. That is a decision we all have to make in life

How important is money to you?

Anyone who is going to give themself fully to Christian ministry has to understand this for themselves. We have to wrestle with it and grapple with it. bc we cannot allow money to drive us into any arena of ministry only the call of god Himself.

(my calling)

God will have to call me the same way He called me here in order for me to know it is from Him.

If you go into ministry will the attitude: WHAT CAN I GET OUT OF IT

it will kill your ministry

You have to approach ministry with the mindset what can I give to it

this is what Id like for you to pray for our leadership

3. Abuse of power

1 Peter 5:3 HCSB

not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

Now this means that we shouldn’t tell everyone else what to do and not doing it myself. those who are called to leadership are called to not only make decisions but to live out what they say they believe.

This is for the deacon who likes the title but does not care for the people, this is for the pastor who always wants it his way or no way at all.

These struggles are real and they are spiritual in nature.

There is no greater stumbling block for the church than for this to be true.

The greatest challenge for every Board member, deacon, elder, ss teacher pastor is to practice what we preach.

so pray that we will be real and passionate and obedient

Please pray for us

(Satans attack on shepherds)

the flock, the shepherds

The Danger

Here we are we have the flock of God and it is up to us to care for the flock of God

1 Peter 5:8 HCSB

Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

Notice he says YOUR ENEMY

This is the enemy of the whole group this is the enemy of the body of Christ seeking whom he may devour

There is a flock there are shepherds but there is a lion out there there is danger for the flock of god

Now imagine were all out on a hike and there we are in two groups and were going through the jungle and everytime we come back together we are in groups of ten and everytime we come back together we do a headcount

ONe of us see Danny or Joey and they are wandering off on their own. Somebody needs to do something why?

bc were all control freaks?

no because there is danger our in the woods at night and one of Satans primary strategies is to find someone who becomes isolated discouraged alienated distanced from the rest of the flock and then he seeks to devour them.

This is the picture Peter is using

But we have a serious enemy who wants to destroy us’

I need to be alert to those around me also.

be alert to those god has placed next to you.

Dont turn a blind eye to that

My friend that I mentioned in the beginning thought he could journey through the Christian life on His own!!

but this is not the churchwe should care for one another and look out for one another bc there are dangers, but this is not the sole responsibiltiy of the spiritual leadership. Have you checked on anyone lately?

Its hard for one person to be everywhere on time.

Have you called anyone and asked if therewas a way you could pray for them?

This is why relationships is so important for the body of Christ church is more than a place where you come for an hour on Sunday morning to worship. This is the place where relationships are to be formed where we do the Christian life together

Here we are on this hike and we are organized in groups so we can make sure no one is lost.

The Destiny

1 Peter 5:4 HCSB

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

This is not reserved only for the Spiritual leader but for every believer in the body of Christ, this body works most efficently when everyone uses the gifts God has given them.

When He talks about a crown, he is meaning a symbol of honor.

A crown of glory

Back in the old Testament

God said those who honor me I will honor and I think thats the best way to understand what Peter is saying here,. that the one who serves Christ best in this life will be highly honored in the presence of god for all eternity.

1 Peter 5:10 HCSB

Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.

He is speaking to this whole group

glory means the brightness and splendor of the presence of god

God cals you to share the brightness and splendor of His presence

Praise God that one day we will enter into this glory and we haven’t got a clue how beautiful and glorious day that will be.

He says that one way that we can defend against the dangers of the world is by mutual submission.

1 Peter 5:5 HCSB

In the same way, you younger men, be subject to the elders. And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

This is clear you who are young in the faith submit to your spiritual leaders/elders.

But also clothe yourself with humility toward one another.

If someone loves you enough to warn you about where you are spiritually, then humble yourself and see them as someone who loves you not someone who is judging you.

But not only should we submit to our leaders but we can only have this attitude if we have submitted to the Lordship and plan of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 5:6 HCSB

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time,

we do this knowing that this humility is for our benefit, and that it will lead to our spiritual maturity.

As we grow God will lift us into positions of leadership and more influence

But as we go through our troubling times we have a Savior who cares and look at the encouragement found here

1 Peter 5:7 HCSB

casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you.

This means Throw the full wieght of your burdens upon Him when you are struggling, when times are tough remember we serve a God who has big shoulders!

he can handle your problems bc He cares for you!!

But the enemy will buffet and He will attack we can cast those cares upon Jesus who cares for us.

In the power of Christ then when satan does attack God says

1 Peter 5:9 HCSB

Resist him and be firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

One of the beautiful things about the church is knowing that even Christians around the world is involved in the same spiritual battle that we feel day in and day out.

So we are not in this thing alone, Christ is there, the great Shepherd, then the undershepherd (me) I am here if you need me, Cory is here if you need him, Amy is here Dale is here Nathan, Eddie, Danny, there are shepherds and undershepherds here for you if you need us all you have to do is call.

But not only that there are Christians who understand the struggle all around the world!

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

1 Peter 5:10 HCSB

Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.

God will do something during your struggle!

I have always said “when your down to nothing God is up to something.”

Never doubt the goodness of God He is working for His glory and your good!

So lets pray for our leaders, lets love and care for one another, lets push each other to be the best versions of ourselves spiritually speaking, lets humble ourselves under God knowing that His goal is our sanctification!

Also lets do nothing for financial gain, lets do nothing ot of compulsion but willingly.

Let’s resist the devil and partner with people that will help us grow spiritually to become the men and women God has called us to be!

(Let’s Pray)