Elders - Guarding the Mission of the Church
Sermon Notes
Our Scripture
Be on guard for yourselves and for 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.
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20.28-32).
Two Basic Words
Elders (Presbyters – “presbuteros”) Overseers (Bishops – “episkopos”)
Two Basic Missions
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word (Acts 6.4)
Paul’s Exhortation for Elders
1. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock.
2. The Holy Spirit has made you overseers (your assignment is from God).
3. Shepherd the church of God (which He purchased with His own blood).
4. Know that which detracts from the church’s mission, false teachers from without and perverse and self-centered teachers from within.
5. Be alert, and persevere with humility in this unrelenting mission.
6. Stay anchored in God and the word of His grace.
A Personal Testimony from Peter
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.
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
(1 Peter 5.1-4).
What is the mission of the church?
The mission of the church is to witness (Acts 1.8) to the world the saving and transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ and to make disciples (Matthew 28.19, 20) who themselves live that transforming power in every area of life.
The mission of the elders is to keep themselves and the church focused on its mission.
The Church
The holiest moment of the church service is the moment when God’s people – strengthened by preaching and sacrament – go out of the church door into the world to be the church. We don’t go to church; we are the church. Ernest Southcott
The church was not designed to be a reservoir, ever receiving and retaining for itself God’s spiritual blessings, but rather a conduit, conveying them on and out to others everywhere. Robert Hall Glover (1871-1947)
We are not consumers – we are distributors.