Two really fast housekeeping items. We'll start a new sermon series June 9th. So we'll finish the

second or first Peter next week, and then a new sermon series June 9th. I was going to jump us

straight into Romans, but we're going to do what's looking like around a six week series called

God 's Household. I've seen the need and the elders have seen the need to retrace and

re-address some really important topics related to church life, church theology, and church

practice. And so we have touched on several of the changes we've made . For example, .

Church membership or church eldership or church deacons or baptism, the Lord's supper, the

church's mission, and the church's faith. I want us to as elders go back and I want us to make

sure to carefully retrace. And re-address and bring as much clarity and helpfulness as we can in

that short series. And then we'll look at the beast which is the book Romans. And my goal is to

be in Romans for about 39 years. Trent said it would only be him remaining if we did that.

So I have two questions. Who are your elders and what are they supposed to be doing? If you

don't know who your elders are, there is this nice page on our website where you can go and

you can actually see these beautiful pictures of your elders that are not so beautiful after all.

They're very close up headshots and they're super awkward. But you'll get to see their faces

and you'll get to see their names. They are Billy Morganson, Dan True, Jim Rodriguez, Jeremy

Putman, Josiah Gerbits, Ryan Patterson and Trent Houck and myself as well.

What are we supposed to be up to? Elder is kind of a weird word. I'm just going to kind of

confess that out front. You look at me, I'm not very elderly. I'm just not. Several of our pastors

are not very elderly. I'm not going to say that the other ones are elderly, but some of them are a

little older than we are. What is our job? Why are we here? What are we supposed to be doing,

and what is our role in the body of Christ?

There is so much confusion and even disagreement about what elders are, what elders do, and

how they should do it in the church at large. Not just this church, but the church at large, for

instance Our elders. Just godly influential men in the church that disciple other people. Does

that make them an elder? Are the elders a non profit board that makes high level policy and HR

and directional decisions and holds the senior pastor accountable in case he goes rogue? Our

elders, the men who directly lead and organize all the ministry programs and activities of the

church. Are the elders or are my elders, the men that I know and respect the most? So I call

them my elders.

In addition, there are a variety of traditions and structures. I mean, take Presbyterianism and

Anglicanism and Lutheranism and the Episcopalians and the Methodists and the Baptists.

They all have nuanced ways of structuring polity and leadership and eldership. They view it

differently You can see why this is confusing If you visited 5 different churches, you would have

five different experiences with five different unique groups of elders. Some churches don't even

have elders. Some churches have different categories and layers and hierarchy of elders. And

to make it more personal, we all have different experiences with our elders from the past or the

present.

Some of you have had good elders, some of you have had mediocre elders, some of you have

had bad elders, and some of you have had horrible elders or you've had a mixture of 1, 2, 3 or

four of those.

Furthermore, because many pastors publicly fall into disqualifying Sinner behavior and because

we have seen so much bad leadership in other realms of society and because we've seen so

many leaders abuse their position, the starting point, if we're honest, for most of us is a little bit

of suspicion. We're a little bit suspicious, even maybe a lot suspicious, very suspicious about

leadership. We're suspicious about pastors. It's almost like even though we want our pastors to

do a good job, and even if we want our pastors to succeed and be a blessing to the church and

be faithful to Jesus, we sort of expect them to fail at some point. And we're pretty surprised

actually, when a pastor makes it to the end of his life, not being perfect, but having done a good

job at his role. So this leads us, leaves us with all kinds of questions.

What is an elder? What do elders do? How do they do it? How should they do it? What should

motivate elders to do what they do? And how should elders relate to you? And how should you

relate to the elders of your church? So we're going to be looking at First Peter Chapter 5.

First Peter 5 verses one to five and justice as a reminder of the context of this letter . Peter 's

writing to Christians and churches that are suffering, they're suffering persecution. They're

suffering persecution for identifying with Jesus Christ, for believing in Jesus Christ, for being

followers of Jesus Christ. And the pastors of a church not only have to care for and lead

suffering members of their church, but they too suffer for the gospel, and they suffer for the

gospel while caring for and leading and feeding and shepherding those Who are suffering as

well?

So we're going to look at this in sort of four parts. We're going to look at it like this. Who are our

elders and what do they do? How should they do it? Why should they do it? And then we'll end

with what must we all do? What must we all, as a church, do?

So let's look at First Peter 5:1-5. “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a

witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.

Shepherd, the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but

willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those

in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will

receive them an unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the

elders Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the

proud but gives grace to the humble.”

The first question is what are elders and what do elders do? Well, he tells us right here in verse

two. He's writing as an elder who witnessed the death of Jesus, the sufferings of Jesus, and

he's writing as an elder who will receive the glory that is to come. He will partake in the glory

that is to come, just like we will. And he tells us what elders are supposed to do. Look at verse

two. Elders are supposed to shepherd the flock of God that is among them, and they are

supposed to exercise oversight. Elders are the shepherds and elders are the overseers.

Elders are the pastors, and elders are those who watch carefully over God 's flock that they

have been assigned to. So how does an elder pastor? If elders are pastors and overseers, let's

take those one at a time. How does an elder pastor? What does it mean that I am a shepherd?

What does it mean that we are shepherds? Well, it means that an elder is someone who feeds

God 's Word to God 's flock. An elder is someone who feeds God 's word to God 's flock so that

the people of God grow, mature. Our fundamental role, our fundamental job as elders is to feed

God 's word, not our words But God 's Word to God 's flock, so that the entire church grows to

the completeness and the maturity of Jesus Christ.

We are to labor, we are to pray, we are to read, we are to preach. We are to guide, we are to

counsel, we are to shepherd the flock with God 's Word for the benefit of God 's sheep. So that

you and I, so that we collectively grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A shepherd feeds God 's word to God 's sheep, and a shepherd lives that word out before the

sheep. That is what a shepherd does. Think about an actual shepherd, a real shepherd with real

sheep. What do they do? They lead the sheep to lush green pastures. They lead the sheep

beside quiet, refreshing waters So that the sheep can drink, and the sheep can eat, and the

sheep can grow healthy and strong.

A shepherd leads the sheep to the pastures and the waters, and so do elders in the church.

Elders in the church lead the sheep to God 's word to eat and drink from Christ himself, to eat

and drink the truth of the word of God. For it is by the truth of the word of God and the gospel

that were saved. It is by the truth of the Word of God in the gospel that we grow. It is through the

Word of God that you are brought into the Kingdom of God. It is through the Word of God that

you grow into Christ 's likeness. It is through the Word of God That we are saved and sanctified

to the image of Jesus Christ.

A shepherd 's primary job is to feed God 's Word To God 's flock when Jesus is restoring Peter

after he denied Jesus. It says this in John 21 verse 15. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus

said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? He said yes Lord,

you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon

son of John, do you love me? He said, yes Lord, do you know that I love you ? He said tend my

sheep. He said to him, the third time Simon said of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved

because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said, Lord, you know everything,

you know I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep, feed my sheep.

A shepherd is someone who feeds God 's people with God 's word. Remember in this text that

man, this is such a cool story, so powerful how John writes. They had just brought a huge catch

of fish to shore and Jesus had breakfast Waiting for them and I really think that Jesus looked or

even maybe pointed at this Huge catch of fish. And he said, Peter, do you love me more than

these? Do you love me more than these fish? And then he says, your job is not to go fishing

anymore. Your job is to feed sheep. You're not a fisherman. You're now a shepherd. And I want

you to go. And with my word, I want you to feed God 's word to God 's sheep. And Jeremiah

chapter 3:14-15, it says this return, “O faithless children, declares the Lord, for I am your master.

I'll take you one from a city and two from a family. I'll bring you to Zion . I will give you shepherds

after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Shepherds after the

heart of God who feed the flock with knowledge and understanding from the word of God. That

is my job.

That's the job of the elders. That's the job we need to give ourselves to with all of our hearts. In

Colossians 1:28 it says Jesus Christ we proclaim, Paul says, “Warning and teaching every

one . With all wisdom that we may present every person mature in Christ. For this I work toiling

with all his energy that He powerfully works within me”. Paul was given giving himself and

pastors should give themselves to teaching and preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified,

and teaching and preaching to the sheep about how to follow Jesus and grow to maturity in

Christ.

So an elder is a pastor, and a pastor is an elder, and a pastor gives himself. Pastors give

themselves to reading God 's words, speaking God 's Word, teaching God 's Word, praying

God 's Word, and living God 's Word. And when elders do that, and when pastors are faithful to

that, the church flourishes. Why does the church flourish when elders do a good job? I want you

to think about God in a way that you probably know He is. But maybe you haven't thought about

it in a while. How does God work in the world? How does God create the world? How does God

sustain the world? How does God save sinners? How does God change your heart? How does

God change this church? How does God grow people to maturity? In Christ? God is a God

who speaks. God speaks his creative word in the beginning.

God created the heavens and the earth with his word. With his word, Hebrews says Jesus

Christ upholds the universe by the word of his power. Romans 10 says we are saved by

believing the word about Christ. Faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of

Christ Jesus . Jesus prayed. Father, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is the truth. And So

what we need is God 's Word.

Pastors are to labor in the Word. But secondly, he says pastors in verse, look at verse 2, Not

only shepherd the flock, but do this by exercising oversight. Exercising oversight to provide, in

other words, spiritual supervision, a careful, close watching of God 's people, not to get them,

not to judge them, not to harm them, not to snatch them away, but a careful watching

of God 's people and watching over their souls .

Think about parenting. What do parents do? Parents are keeping a constant, careful watch over

their children. It's a loving, affectionate, careful, deliberate supervision of their children and their

souls. And so good shepherds, good shepherds not only feed God 's Word to God 's people, but

good shepherds keep a close watch on all the flock of God. We are responsible for your souls in

some way. In fact, in a very significant way that Christ is watching over your soul, but He has

delegated the responsibility to shepherds to carefully watch over the spiritual condition of your

soul. That Christ has told us to do that. He has commissioned and commanded pastors to do

that In Acts 20 verse 28, Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders, and he says this pay careful

attention to yourselves, that is, the elders watch each other, keep a close watch on the other

elders, and to all the flock into which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the

Church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. And then he says, men will come in even

from among your own circle of elders.

He tells the Ephesian elders, men will arise even from this circle of elders right here . And they

will lead the sheep astray like wolves. They will not spare the flock. Elders are pastors, feeding

God 's Word to God 's flock. And they are pastors who oversee and watch over the souls of

men, women, and children who believe in Christ. Think about an actual shepherd again. He

leads the sheep to pastures and calm, refreshing waters. But what else does a shepherd do? A

shepherd sits and he watches the sheep. He guards the sheep. He protects the sheep. He's

looking for bears. He's looking for wolves. He's looking for predators. He is keeping his eye on

the horizon, waiting for a predator to strike. And so shepherds both have to be tender and

tough. Shepherds have to tenderly nourish and care for the flock, but shepherds have to be

willing to fight when it's time to fight. Shepherds carry a staff for a reason. One of those reasons

is to gently lead and direct and redirect the flock and reassure them that they are safe in the

valley of the shadow of death. But the other reason is to fight off wolves and to fight off bears

and to fight off predators And false teachers in the Church of God. And so shepherds have to be

willing to fight, not fight the sheep If we are fighting the sheep, we should repent quickly. We

should repent quickly, but we must be willing to fight those who are a danger to your souls. And

Hebrews 13:17 it says this. “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch

over your souls. As those who will have to give an account, I will have to give an account, a very

strict account, and that is honestly a very fearful thing for me . Let them do this with joy and not

with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.“ So, elders are pastors and pastors are

elders. Elders are overseers and overseers are elders. These are the same person. These are

the same offices. This is the same thing that eldership is pastoral ministry and pastoral ministry

is eldership.

So whether you are looking at an elder who is a paid staff member or not, they are equally

pastors, they are equally overseers and shepherds. I want to draw out a few more things

from this text though, a few more implications and applications for us. I think they are relevant .

Number one, this means that eldership is not simply the influential men in the church. That

eldership is an office. It's a role, it's a formal position that people are appointed to, that people

are qualified for. There has to be a valuation and examination of a man 's life, of a man 's

competence, of his compatibility with the elders of that church, of his compatibility and his ability

to lead the church. That eldership is in office. It's not simply the men in the church that I respect

or that teach and mentor others. It's a specific group of qualified men set apart by the Holy Spirit

The shepherd to feed, to guide, and to protect the church.

Secondly, and this might be my favorite part of the passage, is that The church

is God 's flock, not the elders. I love that you do not belong to me and the elders in any sense.

You belong to Christ. That Jesus Christ is the chief shepherd. He is the senior global pastor, that

Jesus Christ is the senior galactic global pastor of every church and every bit of this planet, that

he is the chief shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd in John 10 that laid down his life for you

because he loves you so much . He shed his blood for you. He purchased you. He bought you.

He redeemed you on the cross. When he shed his blood, that is who your shepherd really is,

the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. He is the senior global pastor of the global church, and he's

the senior pastor of every local church. I told my old church staff one time. I said I sat them

down early on in my ministry and I said, guys, I want this church to be a personality cult. And

they looked at me with huge eyes. They're like, Oh no another one of these guys and I said I

want this to be a personality cult about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the head of this church.

Jesus Christ is the senior pastor, Jesus Christ Is the Good Shepherd who laid his life down for

each one of us, and he will not lose you. He said no one can snatch you from my hand, and no

one can snatch you from my Father 's hand. For no one is greater than he that will bring you all

the way to glory. He will keep you. And when human sinful elders fail you at times when we fail

or when we sin, or when we wrong you, Jesus Christ will never wrong you. Jesus Christ will

never fail you, and Jesus Christ will never fail me either. You can entrust your soul to him. You

can rely on him.

Another application that's really important is that elder carries this connotation of maturity That

the only men that can be elders are those who are mature enough to be one The elders of a

church have to have the necessary wisdom, the necessary character, and the necessary

maturity, and that's why it's called an elder. And oftentimes those who are most mature are older

Now I want to say that there are exceptions to this. There are clear exceptions to this. If you

open your Bible and you read your Bible, which probably most of you have read through the

Bible, you will see that God often sets apart younger men as well. He set apart David, he said

apart Josiah. He set apart Daniel and his three friends who were young men, youths when they

started out I mean, think of Timothy, Paul said, don't, don't allow anyone to look down on you

because of your age. You're a pastor and I want you to go and appoint other pastors in these

local churches. And so Paul was trying to encourage a young pastor who was definitely qualified

to do his job.

So elder, the most important question is not, is this man 62 or 42? The most important question

is, does this man have the maturity and the character and the wisdom that is necessary to fulfill

this role ? And so that's what we're always asking, who is the Holy Spirit setting apart for this?

He might be 42 or he might be 72, but what is important is that he is actually qualified according

to biblical standards. Pastors are responsible, pastors have real delegated authority, and

pastors will give an account to Jesus. They will be judged more strictly . We will be judged more

strictly.

I want to draw out one final implication of verse two. You guys aren't listening fast enough.

Again, you guys need to speed up goodness. Here might be one of the more important

implications of this . That my relationship with you, the elders' relationship with you and yours

with ours is a voluntary and mutual relationship. Meaning just like a friendship, if I want to be

friends with you, but you don't want to be friends with me, then we can't be friends. If a guy

wants to marry his girlfriend but his girlfriend doesn't want to get married, then they can't be

married. It's voluntary and it's mutual. And when it works, it's a beautiful thing. It's a fruitful thing.

It's a wonderful relationship.

And so I and we are not going to force ourselves on you to be your pastors. You have to allow

us to do that. You have to want us to pastor you And we also, we have to want to pastor you.

And I have good news to say this morning. We want to be your pastors. We want to be your

elders. We love you. We care about your soul. We care about your well- being. We want to

pastor you. In order for us to pastor you effectively, you have to want us to. You have to allow us

to. We're not going to force ourselves with a heavy hand upon this church. That is not in my

heart. That is not in our heart.

Jesus Christ forbids us from being forceful and heavy- handed. We want to pasture you. We

love to pastor you. In order for us to do that effectively, you have to want us to. You have to

allow us to. Do you want us to believe you do? Do you want us to do a good job? Do you want

us to serve you? Do you want us to feed the word of God? Do you want us to keep a careful

watch over your souls? Because if you do, this thing can be great. This can be a beautiful God

exalting corporate relationships. All right, guys, we gotta pick up the pace here. That's what

elders are. They are pastors and overseers But the second question is how should pastors

pastor? How should they do it?

We're going to have to fly through verse 2. They are to exercise oversight not under compulsion,

but willingly. The 1st way we're supposed to do it is willingly from the heart. I've already said we

want to pastor you. We should never be strongly armed into pastoring you or compelled into

pastoring you are coerced into being your pastors. I told the elder training, the group of men

going through the elder training process. I said if you don't want to be an elder, if you don't want

a pastor for the benefit of the church, then don't become a pastor . We won't shame you, We

won't think less of you there. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But if you want to be

an elder and a pastor, it has to be a desire given to you by God in your heart. You have to love

the sheep. You have to want to care for the sheep, You have to want to willingly pastor. He goes

on. And he says not only willingly as God would have you, but then verse two he says, not for

shameful gain, but eagerly.

I studied this Greek word for quite a while. It does mean eager, but it really carries the

connotation of doing it with a zealous, upright, pure heart. Doing it with the right heart. And and

he connects that to not doing it for shameful game In other words, a pastor not only has to want

a pastor from the heart, but a pastor is doing it to care for the flock rather than fleece the flock A

pastor must never be motivated by let me get rich and gain a profit from the flock.

Pastors have needs. Their families have needs. First Timothy 5:17 actually tells us that some

pastors who are laboring in the Word and who are giving themselves full time to this work need

to be compensated and supported. But pastors are not motivated by that. Pastors are motivated

by love, by the glory of God . And the good of his church. We are to care for the flock, not fleece

the flock. We were to have a pure upright heart. We're to be willing, we're to be eager. And

lastly, verse three, he says not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to

the flock. We as pastors are forbidden from being forceful, heavy-handed, abusive, harsh,

overbearing and using power to manipulate and control people. We have all been around

people that are truly domineering, haven't we? They are abrasive, they are harsh, they are

arrogant, they are rude, they run over people, they hurt people. They are bulls in a China shop.

That's a domineering person. Elders are forbidden from being that way and from leading that

way, he says. Instead of being domineering, we're to lead by example. We are to lead with

humility. We are to lead you with meekness. We are to lead you with godliness. We are to be an

example to you And that's why I said that the pastoral relationship is not one of force, it's one of

voluntary mutual affection That's the nature of a pastoral relationship. I want to speak to this

idea of meek pastoring really quickly. If we're not supposed to be domineering, what are we

supposed to be. Well, we're supposed to be meek like Christ. But there's a misunderstanding

about what meekness is. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is power under control It's

spiritual fortitude Directed and dispensed for the benefit of other people Meekness is power

under control. It is spiritual authority and spiritual character and spiritual wisdom and spiritual

strength channeled towards the sheep for their edification, for their growth, for their unity, and for

their joy and progress in Christ. So meekness is not weakness. Meekness is not apathy.

Meekness is not becoming a doormat. Meekness is not passivity. Meekness is not lacking

initiative and vision. Meekness is not never changing anything. Meekness does not mean we

won't correct or rebuke. Meekness does not mean we lack convictions or confidence. Meekness

does not mean we are spineless or timid or afraid. Meanness does not mean that we quietly

stand by and let the Church believe what is false or meekness do what is foolish. Meekness is

not weakness, it is spiritual strength used in love to bless, to edify, and to strengthen and feed

the Church.

Can you imagine if parents just did whatever their kids wanted? Can you imagine if parents just

let their kids believe what is false and do what is foolish? That would be horrible leadership and

horrible shepherding. Take Jesus for instance, the meek and lowly pastor. Jesus forgave many,

many sins of his disciples in his lifetime. He overlooked many things that I'm sure he didn't even

mention. But Jesus, the meek and lowly pastor, also rebuked them. He also corrected them. He

also challenged them. He also redirected them. He also spoke truth to them and asked them

hard questions. Peter, get behind me, Satan You're setting your mind on the things of man, not

the things of God, He asked them many times. Where is your faith My disciples, where is your

faith? Jesus said some of the hardest words that we will ever hear in our entire lifetimes. In

Revelation chapter two and three, Jesus approaches the churches and when he speaks to

them, he says, I have this against you and, and these are the things that you're doing. Well,

Paul himself, he was a very meek pastor and yet there were times where he had to be very bold

and very direct and to correct and, and, and rebuke the church if necessary. Meekness is not

weakness. Meekness is spiritual strength used in love The scriptures say that Moses was the

meekest man on earth at the time. You think Moses was a weak leader? Do you think that he

was apathetic or passive or indifferent or a doormat? No, Moses was meek, but Moses was also

a strong man. Jesus was the meekest man ever, and Jesus was the greatest and strongest

leader ever as well at the same time. And so elders are to pastor willingly, pastor eagerly and

pastor meekly as an example to the flock. And then in verse four, he said When the chief

Shepherd appears, look at verse 4. You will receive the unfading crown of glory . Why should

pastors pastor? What is motivating us? Well, there are many things that should motivate us, but

one motivation Peter gives here is that we will receive the unfading crown of glory. We, in other

words, will receive some kind of eternal reward. If we pastor faithfully, we will not receive eternal

life by pastoring faithfully that Jesus accomplished that. We know that.

So Paul, Peter 's not talking about eternal life. Hey, if you pastor faithfully, you will finally have

eternal life. That's not what he's saying He's saying there is some kind of eternal reward for

faithful pastoring that is unique to pastors in general So we are to pastor in view of the coming

of Jesus and for eternal reward And then lastly, because we have to move quickly, he says in

verse 5, Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders . Clothe yourselves, all of you,

with humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

What is it that all of us must do? Pastor should be meek. Pastor should be humble. Pastor

should be willing. Pastors should be pure hearted. Pastors should be eager and zealous and

faithful to their task. But what is it Peter says that all of us must do? Look at verse 5. Clothe

yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another . Why? Why? Because God opposes the

proud but gives grace to the humble . I think of it this way: If the devil cannot destroy a church

with false doctrine What will he destroy? A church with pride If a church has great doctrine,

straight as an arrow, orthodox trinitarianism, orthodox Christology, they preach the true gospel. If

the devil can't destroy us with false teaching, what will he destroy us with? What will he? What

will he tear us apart with? He will tear us apart with our own pride Pastoral pride or the pride of

members themselves as well. It is far too sad that it is far too often that pastors become prideful

or even members become prideful.

See, here's the deal. God shows no partiality to us. God shows no partiality to me. God shows

no partiality to this council of elders. God shows no partiality to you. God doesn't care how much

money is in your bank account. He doesn't care what your education is or your training is or

your experiences. He doesn't care how many kids you've raised or I have raised. He doesn't

care what our credentials are. That if any of us walks in unrepentant, persistent pride, God will

oppose us to our face. Because God hates arrogance. God humbles those who are proud. He

exalts those who are humble. If you started this church or if you just came for today is your first

day at this church, the calling for you and me is to walk with humility towards your pastors and

our pastors walk with humility towards members and members walk with humility towards one

another. God plays no favorites. God looks on the heart, y'all. God looks on our hearts. And he

says, I love humility. I love when I love when you humble yourselves. He loves pastors that

pastor humbly. He loves members. That our members are humble. And so this is the calling of

God for pastors, but this is the calling of God for every member of his church, worldwide and

local. That we would be humble people, a people quick to repent, A people quick to give credit

to Jesus Christ. People are quick to remember that while we were still sinners, Christ died for

us. That without Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, we are hopeless, helpless, lost, dead, and

headed to hell in a handbasket, but because he loves us. Because He came for us and shed

His blood for us, we can walk with thankfulness. And confidence. And humility.

Let's pray Father, thank you so much for your word. It is, it's fresh every time. It's clear Lord, this

is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. It's a big part of my life and it's a part of everybody 's

life here because they're part of a church with elders. And so my prayer. God has been that this

would be a place where and we pray together this morning that this would be a place where the

pastor/believer relationship would be so healthy. And so honoring to you, and so exalting to you,

and so pleasing to you, Lord, that you would fill our hearts with such humility toward one

another that we would with one voice, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus. And it is in

His name that we pray.