Week 2 Day 3 - Ministering In Service

-M-
Day 3 Ministering in Service

INTERDEPENDENT AS A FLOCK (1 Peter 5:1-5)
     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. 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

The Church Flock
         The local church is referred to as a flock in that we are to be under the care of a group and of a pastor or shepherd. One sheep by itself is not a flock. It is only a sheep. A Christian without a church may still be a Christian, but not in the fullest sense.
         To be a Christian without being a part of a flock is like a football player who wants to be part of the NFL, but not on any particular team. Or a soldier who wants to fight but not in any particular army.
         Jesus’s favorite designation for His followers was sheep. Jesus’s final charge in the final gospel is for Peter to “Feed His sheep” (John 21:17). The flock belongs to Christ as the Chief Shepherd. And since the church is a flock, it is to be led by shepherds who would willingly feed, protect, and lead by example.
         There is an interdependent relationship between the pastor, which of course literally means “shepherd”, and the church, or the flock of God. In 1 Peter 5:1-5, we see that interdependency explained using the different terms to signify the duties of pastors.
    So how does this relate to today’s topic of “ministering in service”? The role of pastors, as leaders of the church, is to equip members of the church for ministry.



         “Elder” refers to the spiritually feeding, leading, and praying responsibility of the pastor, and as a result the pastor should be spiritually mature, equipping the church members biblically and spiritually.
     “Pastor” refers to the protecting, caring, and ministering responsibilities of the minister. This also includes equipping members to assist in the caring and ministering roles. In an unofficial sense, the LifeGroup teachers and Care Group leaders need to feel empowered to assist in the pastoring role for their classes.
     “Overseer,” sometimes translated as “bishop”, refers to the management and administrative responsibilities of the pastor, especially as the senior pastor oversees the ministerial staff and the overall ministries of the church.
         These three descriptions of the same ministry are seen in Acts 20:17 when Paul called for the elders of the church and said, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood,” (Acts 20:28).
         In 1 Peter 5:1-5, our passage for today, elders are charged to shepherd and oversee the flock under the direction of the Chief Shepherd. Peter received specific instructions on feeding and shepherding the flock of God from Jesus Christ, found in a post-resurrection appearance on the shores of Lake Galilee. Read John 21:15-19 and then reflect on the following pages of a chart and job descriptions of the various roles of pastors, elders, and overseers.

Click here for Day 4 Individual in Giftedness

No comments:

Post a Comment

Welcome to Membership

An Overview   “Members Only”   “Membership Club”  “Membership Rewards”  “Member dues”   Everywhere we turn, we are bombar...