1 Peter 5:1-4
- An elder Shepherds God's People.
- An elder has Godly Motives .
- An elder is Gracious .
- An elder is a Model .
- An elder Works for His Shepherd.
2019 Elder Team
(Left to Right) Rich Sprunk, Jay Knauer, Brian Gagnon, Mike Martin, Darren Keller, Jeff Miller
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
-
Pastor Jeff:
01:11-01:13
Come on up, Mike and Brian.
Pastor Jeff:
01:13-01:18
For those of you who maybe are new around here, we are an elder-run congregation.
Pastor Jeff:
01:19-01:26
And this is Darren Keller and Rich Sprunk and Jay Knauer, and they've been faithfully serving Harvest Bible Chapel for years.
Pastor Jeff:
01:26-01:29
Jay and Darren were among our first class of elders.
Pastor Jeff:
01:29-01:31
So they've been - how many years has that been?
Pastor Jeff:
01:33-01:33
You don't count years?
Pastor Jeff:
01:35-01:37
Birthdays must be a real treat at your house.
Pastor Jeff:
01:40-01:46
Well, today we are going to be installing and praying over two more men.
Pastor Jeff:
01:46-01:49
This is Mike Martin and, oh, Brian, there you are.
Pastor Jeff:
01:49-01:49
I am.
Pastor Jeff:
01:50-01:51
Sneaking up on me.
Pastor Jeff:
01:51-01:53
He was chosen purely for his ninja-like abilities.
Pastor Jeff:
01:54-01:55
You're probably wondering where is it.
Pastor Jeff:
01:57-02:07
Mike Martin and Brian Gagnon, and we certainly have appreciated getting to know you and seeing your wisdom and your service in the church.
Pastor Jeff:
02:09-02:12
And Mike, I just appreciate you and Judy have such a heart to serve.
Pastor Jeff:
02:13-02:18
Judy helps me every week back in guest reception, and Mike has stepped in.
Pastor Jeff:
02:18-02:28
It might be quicker for me to list some of the areas of ministry where he hasn't stepped in, but especially in the prayer team ministry and with missions.
Pastor Jeff:
02:28-02:35
Mike has been such a great servant of the Lord and a great mentor to a lot of people in this church.
Pastor Jeff:
02:35-02:46
and Brian, you know how sometimes, when you meet somebody, you know how sometimes it takes you a while to get to know them before you like them?
Pastor Jeff:
02:48-02:49
(audience laughing)
Pastor Jeff:
02:50-02:51
I liked you right away.
Pastor Jeff:
02:53-02:54
That was not the case with you.
Pastor Jeff:
02:57-02:59
I had you sweating there for a minute, didn't I?
Pastor Jeff:
02:59-03:01
I'm thinking, where is he going with this?
Pastor Jeff:
03:03-03:05
People say that every week when I get up to preach.
Pastor Jeff:
03:08-03:16
Kidding aside, you and Shirley have demonstrated such a spiritual maturity and wisdom that was obvious from the very beginning.
Pastor Jeff:
03:16-03:23
And I know what a huge impact the two of you had on our marriage class that we had this summer.
Pastor Jeff:
03:23-03:34
And here at Harvest Bible Chapel, elders are not so much selected are identified.
Pastor Jeff:
03:35-03:41
Because Scripture gives the criteria of the type of man that should shepherd the church.
Pastor Jeff:
03:41-03:48
And I'm going to ask you men, if you would please, I have a few words for the elders, but I'm going to ask you to sit in the front row for two reasons.
Pastor Jeff:
03:48-03:50
One is nobody ever is.
Pastor Jeff:
03:52-03:58
And the other reason is I want to share a few words about what it means to be an elder, and it'd just be a lot easier if I didn't have to do this the whole time.
Pastor Jeff:
04:00-04:11
And then we're going to call you back up But 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 give the qualifications for an elder.
Pastor Jeff:
04:12-04:15
So again, they're more identified than selected.
Pastor Jeff:
04:15-05:02
So, what we had done, especially this past year in our eldership as I sat down with Darren and Jay and Rich, we said, who are the men in our church demonstrate the qualities of an elder. And there were two men that immediately went to the top of that list that we started praying about, and they went through a long process, Brian and Mike did as the others did, but they went through a long process of applications and interviews and training and attending elders meetings to see what goes on. So you have to know that this isn't something that we were just like eeny meeny miny moe, hey I like you, you're good looking, you look good in a suit, you're an elder.
Pastor Jeff:
05:02-05:10
This has been a very long process of really seeking the Lord and getting to see the character of these men.
Pastor Jeff:
05:11-05:16
And I'm really excited for this church to have this caliber of leadership.
Pastor Jeff:
05:18-05:22
But just a word for the elders here before we pray.
Pastor Jeff:
05:23-05:26
This comes from 1 Peter 5.
Pastor Jeff:
05:28-05:30
I just want to give you the elders' job description.
Pastor Jeff:
05:30-05:32
And again, this isn't going to be a surprise to any of these guys.
Pastor Jeff:
05:33-05:34
We've been talking about these things.
Pastor Jeff:
05:35-05:36
But this is the elders' job description.
Pastor Jeff:
05:37-05:46
I want to read these verses and then very quickly just sort of list some of the things that the Bible calls an elder of the church to do.
Pastor Jeff:
05:47-06:03
And Peter writes, "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 is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you.
Pastor Jeff:
06:04-06:05
Exercising oversight.
Pastor Jeff:
06:05-06:07
Stop right there. That's number one.
Pastor Jeff:
06:07-06:09
First part of your job description.
Pastor Jeff:
06:10-06:11
Exercise oversight.
Pastor Jeff:
06:11-06:14
Or, we would say an elder shepherds God's people.
Pastor Jeff:
06:15-06:16
Okay?
Pastor Jeff:
06:17-06:30
You aren't being installed as dictators, as bosses, as some kind of CEO of the church I'm just going to keep people in line." You're a shepherd.
Pastor Jeff:
06:33-06:36
That's what it means to exercise oversight.
Pastor Jeff:
06:38-06:42
And he gives the attitude as we read on in verse 2.
Pastor Jeff:
06:42-06:59
He says, "Not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly." And that takes us to number two in my description, an elder not only shepherds God's people, but an elder has godly motives.
Pastor Jeff:
07:00-07:02
An elder has godly motives.
Pastor Jeff:
07:02-07:06
And he gives two positives and two negatives here.
Pastor Jeff:
07:06-07:07
Did you see that?
Pastor Jeff:
07:07-07:08
Here's a negative.
Pastor Jeff:
07:08-07:09
Not under compulsion.
Pastor Jeff:
07:10-07:15
It wasn't like we're twisting these guys' arms like, "Brian, come on, man.
Pastor Jeff:
07:16-07:16
I need you to do it.
Pastor Jeff:
07:17-07:18
If you don't do it, the church fails.
Pastor Jeff:
07:18-07:21
If you don't do it, Jesus is disappointed in you.
Pastor Jeff:
07:21-07:24
Okay, I'll do it." it can't be under compulsion.
Pastor Jeff:
07:25-07:29
It can't be guilt trip or some obligation.
Pastor Jeff:
07:29-07:30
It can't be that way.
Pastor Jeff:
07:30-07:35
He says, "Not under compulsion, but willingly." Like, yes, this is something that I want to do.
Pastor Jeff:
07:38-07:40
He says, "As God would have you." And here's the second negative.
Pastor Jeff:
07:40-07:45
He says, "Not for shameful gain." Yeah, you're not getting paid.
Pastor Jeff:
07:46-07:47
So that's not a motive.
Pastor Jeff:
07:49-07:52
But there's other gains that can be made through leadership, right?
Pastor Jeff:
07:53-07:55
That's what Peter's talking about here.
Pastor Jeff:
07:55-07:59
He says you're not put in a position of leadership to take advantage of those under your care.
Pastor Jeff:
08:01-08:02
He says but eagerly.
Pastor Jeff:
08:02-08:03
Eagerly!
Pastor Jeff:
08:04-08:05
Not just willingly, but eagerly!
Pastor Jeff:
08:06-08:20
Not just, "I want to do this, but I really love and want to help lead this people!" The third part of the job description takes us to verse 3.
Pastor Jeff:
08:20-08:25
He says, "Not domineering over those in your charge." An elder is gracious.
Pastor Jeff:
08:27-08:28
Not domineering.
Pastor Jeff:
08:30-08:34
Not that Gentile style that Jesus was talking about, right?
Pastor Jeff:
08:34-08:44
Jesus said, "The rulers of the Gentiles, they lorded over them, but not so with you." Jesus said, "The greatest among you must be" what?
Pastor Jeff:
08:45-08:48
"A servant." An elder is gracious.
Pastor Jeff:
08:49-08:54
Yes, this is the highest level of authority in the church.
Pastor Jeff:
08:54-08:56
So according to Jesus, do you know what that means?
Pastor Jeff:
08:56-09:00
The highest level of authority is also the highest level of servanthood, right?
Pastor Jeff:
09:02-09:06
Yes, you are men of authority because you're men under authority.
Pastor Jeff:
09:07-09:11
And authority doesn't mean I'm the boss, you do what I say.
Pastor Jeff:
09:12-09:17
Authority means God has called me to make decisions.
Pastor Jeff:
09:18-09:25
to bless and protect those that He has entrusted to me." That's authority.
Pastor Jeff:
09:26-09:28
That's authority in the home - men.
Pastor Jeff:
09:28-09:31
That's the authority in the church - elders.
Pastor Jeff:
09:33-09:40
Verse 3, he goes on, he says, "But being examples to the flock." That's the fourth part of your job description.
Pastor Jeff:
09:41-09:41
An elder is a model.
Pastor Jeff:
09:42-09:44
An elder is a model.
Pastor Jeff:
09:46-09:59
Mike, when I told Mike that, he goes, "Yeah, I know that that's why you picked me, because of my good looks. I'm a model, right? I do my little turn on the catwalk." And no, that's not what we mean by model. It means you're an example.
Pastor Jeff:
10:01-10:17
He says, "Be an example to the flock." Meaning, people should be looking to you as an elder to say, "This is what it looks like to follow Christ." Remember the Apostle Paul said, "Be imitators of me as I imitate Christ." That's your job. People should be looking to you.
Pastor Jeff:
10:17-10:19
You know, what does it look like to follow Jesus?
Pastor Jeff:
10:19-10:25
These people who have recently come to Christ in our church, they're like, "Hey, I'm a baby Christian.
Pastor Jeff:
10:25-10:28
What does it look like as a husband, as a father?
Pastor Jeff:
10:28-10:31
What does it look like as a new believer?" They should be looking to you guys.
Pastor Jeff:
10:32-10:37
Saying, "Okay, that's a model of what it means." Not perfect. None of us are perfect.
Pastor Jeff:
10:38-10:50
But striving and pursuing and seeking Christ and worshiping Christ, walking with Christ, working for Christ, making worship a priority, making small group involvement a priority, making home a priority.
Pastor Jeff:
10:52-10:53
An elder is a model.
Pastor Jeff:
10:54-10:58
And then finally, an elder works for his shepherd.
Pastor Jeff:
10:59-11:15
That's where Peter says, "And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." You are working for Jesus with an eye on eternity.
Pastor Jeff:
11:17-11:18
That yes, you are shepherds.
Pastor Jeff:
11:18-11:19
We are shepherds.
Pastor Jeff:
11:20-11:22
But we are shepherds under the Good Shepherd, right?
Pastor Jeff:
11:23-11:28
So, it is Him whom we seek to please with the way that we shepherd this flock.
Pastor Jeff:
11:29-11:32
So I'm going to ask if you would come back up here.
Pastor Jeff:
11:33-11:35
And let's put Brian and Mike in the front.
Pastor Jeff:
11:38-11:40
and the rest of us behind, and we're going to lay hands.
Pastor Jeff:
11:41-11:43
And church, we want you to pray along with us.
Pastor Jeff:
11:43-11:47
And we want you to do something that we actually did in Thailand.
Pastor Jeff:
11:48-11:54
In Thailand, when Barnabas, our missionary, would say, "Let's pray," everybody prayed.
Pastor Jeff:
11:55-11:57
And you know that's not a problem for God, right?
Pastor Jeff:
11:57-12:05
You realize at any time, at any moment, in the world, there are how many millions of people lifting up their voices to the Lord at the same time?
Pastor Jeff:
12:05-12:07
He has no problem sorting that out.
Pastor Jeff:
12:07-12:09
And what a sign of unity.
Pastor Jeff:
12:09-12:13
What a sign of seeking the Lord together that we would pray.
Pastor Jeff:
12:14-12:25
So I'm going to ask if we would pray and just lift these men up before the Lord and really all of our eldership and ask the Lord that we would honor Him with the way that we shepherd this church.
Pastor Jeff:
12:26-12:35
And then after a few moments of us all praying at the same time, I asked Rich if he would close us for the congregational prayer over the elders.
Pastor Jeff:
12:36-12:36
Alright?
Pastor Jeff:
12:37-12:39
So will you pray with me, church?
Pastor Jeff:
12:40-12:42
Father in Heaven, we just lift these men up to You.
Pastor Jeff:
12:43-12:48
And we thank You so much for the leadership that You have provided this church.
Pastor Jeff:
12:48-12:53
Father, we need Your wisdom and guidance.
Pastor Jeff:
12:54-12:58
And I thank You for the way that You have raised and prepared these men.
Pastor Jeff:
12:59-13:01
I thank You, Father, for their wives.
Pastor Jeff:
13:02-13:04
We thank You, Father, for their families.
Pastor Jeff:
13:04-13:07
We thank You, Father, for them coming into this knowing the commitment.
Pastor Jeff:
13:09-13:13
Father, we ask that they would shepherd with a pure motive.
Pastor Jeff:
13:14-13:17
We ask, Father, that they would shepherd with a servant's heart.
Pastor Jeff:
13:18-13:22
That they would shepherd this church in the way that Christ has called.
Pastor Jeff:
13:24-13:25
Father, give us wisdom.
Pastor Jeff:
13:26-13:27
Guide us.
Rich Sprunk:
13:28-13:34
Our most gracious and loving Father, We thank you so very much for Mike and Brian.
Rich Sprunk:
13:35-13:42
Thank you for sending them our way to be ministers, to be stewards, and to be elders.
Rich Sprunk:
13:43-13:46
I pray, Father, You would continue to give them wisdom and discernment.
Rich Sprunk:
13:48-13:54
Give them compassionate and loving hearts that these qualities would abound in them more and more.
Rich Sprunk:
13:56-14:08
And that You would continue to make them Your faithful servants as they serve and steward the good deposit that You have given them.
Rich Sprunk:
14:10-14:12
We pray that You would continue to bless our congregation.
Rich Sprunk:
14:14-14:21
Father, You would unite our hearts and make us one mind, one spirit, one faith in our one Lord Jesus Christ.
Rich Sprunk:
14:23-14:25
And we ask these things in His great name.
Rich Sprunk:
14:26-14:26
Amen.
Pastor Jeff:
14:26-14:27
Amen.
Pastor Jeff:
14:28-14:28
Amen.
Pastor Jeff:
14:30-14:31
(applause)
Pastor Jeff:
14:38-14:39
Leadership is servanthood.
Pastor Jeff:
14:40-14:45
And our new elders' first act of being an elder is to serve you, the congregation.
Pastor Jeff:
14:46-14:47
They're going to serve the Lord's Supper.
Pastor Jeff:
14:47-14:51
I'm going to ask Brian and Mike if you would take communion trays.
Pastor Jeff:
14:51-14:56
And they are going to stand on either side of the middle aisles as the worship team leads the song.
Pastor Jeff:
14:56-14:57
And here's what you're going to do.
Pastor Jeff:
14:57-14:59
You're going to stand and worship.
Pastor Jeff:
15:00-15:03
And you're going to come up and receive the Lord's Supper when you're ready.
Pastor Jeff:
15:03-15:11
If you need to take some time to meditate, to pray, to reflect, maybe you just need a minute to worship before you come up.
Pastor Jeff:
15:12-15:16
When you're ready, you're going to come up the middle aisles and you're going to receive the Lord's Supper here.
Pastor Jeff:
15:17-15:17
Don't take it back to your seat.
Pastor Jeff:
15:18-15:19
We're not all taking it together.
Pastor Jeff:
15:19-15:21
You're going to receive the Lord's Supper here.
Pastor Jeff:
15:21-15:27
And then we ask you to return to your seat from the outside and we're going to continue to worship while we receive the Lord's Supper together.