Sermons
Shepherds & Deacons
SHEPHERDS & DEACONS
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / February 07, 2016
Our thanks to Brian Alfred for his pastoral-Sunday sermon present last Sunday.
I have mentioned to you a few times that I’m a player in an on-line game called, Just Words.
It is a game that is basically like Scrabble and I find it to be rather de-compressing.
Sometimes when you’re playing you can choose to communicate to your opponent via texting.
A while back I was making small talk with a person (Cindy0123) - - a resident of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Recently I play a lady (computer sketch indicated a female) with the tag name, Breezy4Goats.
I asked her if she actually had goats and she said yes, that her family owned a dairy farm.
I texted her back saying that I worked with SHEEP.
She inquired further and I told her that I was a preacher, to which she responded, “hahaha”.
This lead-in brings us to our topic for this morning.
One of the ancient songs sung by “the called out” is song #153 in our hymnal.
It is also found in Ps.95:6-7
Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker,
For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.
Another passage - - Ps.100:3 - - affirms the same:
Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
God’s children (in both Old Testament and New Testament times) are often referred to as SHEEP.
Sheep, by their very nature have LIMITATIONS.
Isa.53:6 notes this truism, “all of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way”.
The very God who made us knows our weaknesses and He has provided for us.
Way back in Num.27:17, near the end of Moses’ life, Moses petitioned God saying,
May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,
who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in,
that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd.
(God answered the prayer of Moses by appointing Joshua).
During the ministry of Jesus, He reminded His disciples (Jn.10:11):
I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
A few verses later in Jn.10:27, Jesus added, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
In Heb.10:20, Paul emphasizes that Jesus Christ our Lord is THE GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP.
But, in the life of the church, the Scriptures take this concept even farther.
Yes, Jesus remains our chief shepherd.
But God also also seen fit to provide us with “under-shepherds”.
In Jn.21 we have recorded the words of Jesus spoken to Peter (after Peter’s denial).
It is a thrice-stated, three-word command that Peter would surely never ever forget.
Tend My lambs (vs.15) … Shepherd My sheep (vs.16) … Tend My sheep (vs.17).
The apostle Peter wrote in his first epistle (1Pet.5:1-3): 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, 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;
nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
Sheep do a lot of bleating (not bleeding, but bleating – BAAAAAAH).
Sheep are needy creatures. This word bleat has a secondary definition in my dictionary - - to utter in a whining voice.
If we could translate their frequent bleats we’d find that they’re basically saying: Help me !… Lead Me! … Feed Me!
So God, in His infinite wisdom and gracious & loving care, has chosen to provide earthly shepherds for us.
Many churches, perhaps for various reasons, do not have elders or shepherds.
This is quite sad, because sheep need shepherds, always have and always will.
It is also sad because it runs contrary to the will of God. cf. Acts 14:23 / appointed elders in every city cf. Titus 1:5
In 1Tim.3:1ff (turn there please), Paul enumerates the qualifications needed for one to serve as a shepherds.
He also speaks about the need for deacons. We’ll return to this text in a moment, but for now let’s jump
ahead to vss.14-15, where Paul states, “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long,
but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in
the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
If a church is without elders and deacons it is not only deficient in providing for the needs of the congregation,
it is also deficient (and negligent) in complying with the will of God regarding life in the church.
If a church is capable of appointing elders and deacons, but chooses not to do so (for whatever reason), such is a sin of omission (a violation of God’s will). If a church finds itself without elders and deacons because it simply does not have ones qualified, at the very least they should aspire to have elders and aim to grow to the point where they can.
Today, we begin a process to reaffirm our current elders and deacons.
Our church family made the deliberate decision years ago, to not appoint elders and deacons “for life”.
We all recognize that people change with time. Some who have been appointed as elders grow into “monsters”.
They misunderstand their assignment and seek after an unbiblical kind of power which brings corruption.
Peter recognized this when he spoke of some who “lord it over the flock” (1Pet.5:3a).
One of the most calamitous endeavors a church can undergo is the task of trying to
get a cranky, selfish, strong-willed and egoistic elder to step down from his position.
With that in mind, our church family has decided to engage in a reaffirmation process every four years.
Besides just combating the possibility of corruption, elders (and deacons) need REAFFIRMATION.
These men who serve us need to know from us that WE WANT THEM and that WE DESIRE FOR THEM TO SERVE.
In a very real sense, to be reaffirmed is to be RE-ENERGIZED and re-ignited in the work of the Lord.
Not too long ago, I had a heart-felt discussion with our elders.
When you get to be sixty and nearing the typical retirement age (I’m now 62), you start to wonder
if its time to be put out to pasture. I was thrilled when they essentially reaffirmed me.
I thought they might tell me, “we’re looking for a younger man to replace you.”
When they reaffirmed me, I felt A SENSE OF RENEWAL and was re-invigorated to keep on keeping on.
Now, for the balance of this morning’s message, I want us to revisit 1Tim.3:1ff.
First, however, I want to introduce those who are currently serving as elders and deacons.
Elders / Brian Alfred … Vic Rossi … Bob Villers
Deacons / Keith Chopic … Mark Lombardi … Ron Wildman
These men have served us well.
Heb.13:17 states, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you;
And consider the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”
In 1Thess.5:12-13 Paul writes, “we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those
who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you
instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”
In 1Tim.5:17 Paul states, “Let elder who rule well (NIV renders, direct the affairs) be considered
worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
I, for one, hope that all six of these men will continue serving our congregation.
There are others in our midst who are likewise qualified to serve as elders or deacons.
As you can see on the flipside of today’s FamilyMatters, we are now being given
an opportunity to nominate others to serve alongside of our current leaders.
Between now and February 21st (over the next two weeks) we are invited to submit additional names.
? Forms are available on the chairs throughout the auditiorium. ?
Before we engage in this process, I want to remind us that this is not a popularity contest.
Any name submitted must be weighed carefully alongside the qualifications specified in the text we will now read.
In Acts 6:3, the Jerusalem church is directed, “select from among yourselves…”.
Here we stand, 2,000 years or so later, being asked to do the same thing - - to choose men from among us.
One brief note here - - 1Tim.3:1 speaks of aspiring (desiring) to serve.
If you are nominated I want to urge you to think long and hard about accepting.
The church will never be as strong as it should be and could be if good men fail to serve.
? Call attention to handout enumerating qualifications. ?
Read 1Tim.3:1-13
Acts 20:28f records a meeting that Paul had with the elders of the church at Ephesus.
Read from Acts 20:28-32. Paul concluded this important farewell with a prayer.
When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. / Acts 20:36
Our Heavenly Father,
We come before Your throne today, thanking you for the provisions You have made for us.
Thank You for directing us to appoint elders and deacons to help shepherd and serve the flock.
May we as a church family pause often to remember those who lead us … to appreciate those who
diligently labor among us … to esteem them very highly in love and to consider them worthy of double honor.
Bless us and guide our thinking as we engage in this important endeavor over the next month or so.
May Your hand be with our hands as we reaffirm and appoint men to serve as shepherds and deacons.
And may all of our efforts work to bring glory and honor to You and Your glorious church.
Through Christ, the Chief Shepherd, we pray. Amen
