What Are the Pastors' Roles in the Church? - Jesse Barrington

Well, good evening to you all.

It is a privilege to be
with you all again.

I just want to begin

by going to the Lord in prayer

and just asking Him for His grace

over our time now as we come to the Word.

I know we've prayed.

I just want to ask that we pray again.

So, let's pray.

Father, it's in the name
of Jesus that we come.

Father, thank You.

Thank You for saving us.

God, I often wonder where we would be

when we're gathered,

had You not saved us.

And here we are, Lord,

gathered together to worship You,

to open Your Word,

to grow,

to praise You, to be transformed.

God, thank You for changing us

that we desire these things;

Lord, that people would take time

out of their schedule to gather.

Lord, we pray that You would grant

much grace now.

God, that this wouldn't be
mere men speaking.

It would be the Spirit coming

and opening the Word to us.

In my own heart, I pray, God,

that You would work.

Lord, help me.

Teach me.

God, and we do pray that this is

more than just information, God.

That it is a transforming
work of the Holy Spirit.

So help, as we sang a
few moments ago, Lord,

do speak to us now through Your Word.

In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

If you'll open your Bibles

to the book of Acts, chapter 14.

We'll begin in chapter 14

and then move over to Acts 20.

But before we look at Acts 14,

I just want to share a little
bit to kind of set the stage

of where we're going tonight if you will.

I can tell you as a
Christian and as a pastor

that I have a great burden
for the local church.

And I'm sure all of you
do sitting here as well.

As we read through the New Testament,

we see Scripture assumes something.

The Scriptures assume
that we as Christians

are committed to a
local body of believers.

It assumes that you're in and committed

to a local church.

The notion that some people have -

what may have been referred to as

"lone ranger Christianity,"

where you have believers

who are not committed to a local church

is unheard of in Scripture.

The local church is one
of God's essential means

of growth for Christians.

Knowing this, beloved, it's important

that we all understand what the Scriptures

then have to say about our local church.

And specifically, what does the Scripture

have to teach us about our roles

in our local church?

Our responsibilities in our local church?

And then how do we relate to one another

in our local churches?

I will tell you that I keep seeing

an issue arising again and again.

And that issue is this:

it's Christians who know Scripture

in the sense of theology.

They have an understanding
of theology and doctrine,

but they really seem to have a struggle

as it pertains to how they should function

and what their role
is in their local church.

And that's what I want to preach on today.

And tomorrow.

How are we to behave

in the household of God?

I want to preach tonight specifically

on pastors, elders.

What is their role?

What is their responsibility
to the congregation?

And then tomorrow, Lord willing,

I'll preach on what is
the congregation's role

and responsibility

and how do they relate to the pastor

or the elders.

My hope this evening
is to bring a reminder

and an exhortation to those of you in here

who are pastors - myself being one.

I want to remind us of what our role is,

what our responsibility is.

I also hope that if some of you

I've talked to in the past maybe

that are discerning a calling in your life

maybe to a pastoral call -

to be an elder in a church.

And I want to help bring
distinction and clarity

to what that role and responsibility is.

And then, finally, to all of us

as members of local churches,

I want to help us better understand

what is the pastor's
role and responsibility?

And how should he relate to us?

And then tomorrow after we
see that role and responsibility,

how should we relate to our pastors

knowing their role and responsibility?

Beloved, the more we understand
God's Word in these areas,

the better we can function

as God has intended us to

and have healthy, biblical local churches.

My overarching goal then is this:

The glory of God in the local church.

The glory of God in the local church.

My co-pastor preached
on these two subjects

in our church.

It's something that we are striving

to regularly put before our people

because you may have a
knowledge of these things,

but very often, having a knowledge of them

is different than living in light of them

as you function in your local churches.

So it's important that we
keep putting these things

before ourselves and before our people.

I'm tackling a broad topic - no doubt.

So, this will not be an exhaustive study.

There will be some things
that I do leave out.

And I've prayed and studied
numerous passages,

but we'll be focusing in
on one particular passage

each hour together.

Before we look at Acts 14,

I'm going to read to you 1 Timothy 3.

If you just want to write
that reference down.

1 Timothy 3:14-15.

Listen to what Paul says to Timothy.

"I hope to come to you,

but I'm writing these things to you

so that if I delay,

you may know how one ought to behave

in the household of God,

which is the church of the living God,

a pillar and buttress of truth."

I wanted to read that
to help you see this:

Scripture speaks to how we are to behave

in the household of God.

It speaks a lot.

And it speaks explicitly on how

we are to behave in the household of God.

Now let's look at Acts 14.

A little bit of context here,

we have Paul and Barnabas.

And they're out preaching
the Gospel to people

and they want to fulfill
the Great Commission.

They want to make disciples.

And Paul knew that if he's going to be

faithful in the making of disciples,

that there needs to be
a healthy church there.

Let's look at v. 21-23 here.

"When they had preached
the Gospel to that city

and had made disciples,

they returned to Lystra

and to Iconium at Antioch,

strengthening the souls of the disciples

and encouraging them
to continue in the faith

and saying that through many tribulations

we must enter the kingdom of God."

Note here v. 23 then.

"And when they had
appointed elders for them

in every church with prayer and fasting,

they committed them to the Lord

in whom they had believed."

You had Christians -

converts, born again, regenerate people -

coming together and meeting.

Paul wanted to strengthen them.

And one of the things he
felt he needed to have done

was the appointing of
elders in local churches.

Why?

Because Christians gathering together

without oversight of pastors or elders

is not in order.

It's not in order.

I get that wording from Titus 1:5.

Just listen to this.

He says something very similar to Titus.

"This is why I left you in Crete,

so that you might put
what remained in order

and appoint elders in every town

I directed to you."

Paul looked at genuine,
born again Christians

coming together without
the oversight of elders

and said that's not in order.

So he goes with Barnabas
and they appoint elders.

He writes to Timothy. He writes to Titus.

Hey, I want you to go and appoint elders

because why?

Because without elders,

things are not in order.

Christians gathering together

in an organic way may seem very romantic.

It has a romanticism to it.

Kind of this: hey, we're
just getting together.

We're just doing our
own little thing here.

But I want you to know
according to Scripture,

that's not in order.

And God is concerned about that.

Now, listen, beloved, I know some of you

don't have biblical churches near you.

And many of you are praying

that God would do just that -

that He would raise up elders

in the local churches where you're at.

And I just want to encourage you,

keep praying.

Remain steadfast in those prayers

that God would raise up elders

in the churches that you're at.

Others of you, you just may need to move

to be in a local church.

If there's not a local
church in your area,

I can't think of a better reason to move

than to be a part of a local church

with biblical oversight through pastors.

But just to be clear again,

the notion of Christians
gathering together

unorganized, without
the oversight of elders,

to Paul says that's not right.

Now we live in the providence of God.

In other words, if we don't have elders,

we don't say, well, we need them.

Let's just throw men in there.

We don't do that. This takes time.

And we want to be patient upon the Lord.

But we should be working towards this end

and praying towards this end.

I hope we can see, beloved, we need

to be a part of local churches.

We need to have elders.

Let's turn now to Acts 20

as we look at what is the role

and responsibility of elders.

Let's start in v. 17

and then we're going to focus in

on v. 28-31.

V. 17 tells us though,

"Now Miletus, he sent to Ephesus,

and called the elders of the church

to come to him."

So Paul says go get the elders

and bring them here.

He has a lot to say to them,

but I'm going to zero in now on v. 28-31

just because of our time.

So if you'll read along with me there.

To the elders Paul says,

"Pay careful attention to yourselves

and to all the flock

in which the Holy Spirit
has made you overseers

to care for (or shepherd)
the church of God

which He obtained with His own blood.

I know that after my departure,

fierce wolves will come in among you

not sparing the flock,

and from among your own selves

will arise men speaking twisted things

to draw away the disciples after them.

Therefore, be alert,

remembering that for three years,

I did not cease night and day

to admonish everyone with tears."

Let me first note for you here this:

Elders, overseers, and pastors

are one and the same person or people.

Elders, overseers, pastors

are one and the same person.

Look again, v. 17, to the elders.

V. 28, "whom the Holy Spirit

has made you overseers."

To shepherd, care for, pastor.

That's the verb form of the word "pastor"

that we use there.

And I want to point that out to you

to understand elders are pastors.

Pastors are overseers.

Overseers are elders.

It's describing the same office.

That's important for us to note

first and foremost.

If you want to see that again

for further study,

you can look at 1 Peter 5

where Peter exhorts the elders.

And again, he uses all three words

that we use for the office of elder

in one clear thought there.

He writes to the elders

about their oversight,

and he calls them to pastor
or shepherd the flock.

Elders, overseers, pastors.

Notice also too in v. 17 this:

every place in Scripture where we see

elders or pastors addressed,

it's written in the plural form.

Meaning what?

That the Scriptures look
to having a plurality -

more than one elder in the church.

More than one pastor.

And again, I understand that we live

in the providence of God.

What do I mean by that?

That God may have raised up a pastor,

an elder in your church,

or He's going to.

And although, no, we don't have two yet

which is what Scripture
directs us towards,

we should be working and praying towards

the raising up of more
men to become elders.

A plurality of elders.

We don't just say we've got one pastor.

Let's find another one so we can be

obedient to Scripture
and have a plurality.

These men need to be qualified

according to Scripture.

1 Timothy 3, Titus 1.

So that qualifying,

that discerning of calling

and discerning of the gift of teaching,

it takes time.

And so we want to be patient,

but we need to be working towards

a plurality of qualified elders,

pastors, overseers.

Notice this too.

Within a plurality of elders,

they are co-equals.

Elders and pastors are co-equals.

It is true that they have unique giftings

within the plurality.

And so you might find in some scenarios

where an individual pastor or elder

is given to the preaching and teaching

of the Word.

We know the qualifications teach us

that all elders must be able to teach.

But Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 5:17,

some of them may be given

or set aside for the
preaching and teaching

of the Word.

And so, these plurality of elders

that are qualified according to Scripture,

they collectively shepherd

the flock of God together.

One of them may be given

to the preaching and teaching of the Word.

And we're going to get
into that text tomorrow,

so I'll leave that there for us.

Now, let's look at this.

What's the first admonition

starting in v. 28 that Paul gives

to these elders here in Ephesus?

Look at v. 28.

The first admonition is this:

"Pay careful attention to yourselves."

Pay careful attention to yourselves.

Pastors, elders here - myself included -

your number one responsibility

is to guard and nurture your own soul.

That is the most important thing.

You need to pay careful attention

to yourselves.

My heart breaks as I keep reading

about pastors falling into grevious sin

and disqualifying themselves.

They need to be paying careful
attention to themselves.

We noted that elders must be qualified,

but notice this when you look

at the qualifications in Scripture,

all of the qualifications are
in the present tense.

And what that means is

they must be qualified,

but they must remain qualified.

How do they do that?

By paying careful attention to themselves.

As the proverbs tell us,

"above all else, guard your heart."

Pastors sitting here today,
I want to warn you in something:

Don't get too busy

where you stop looking
after your own soul;

where you stop paying careful attention

to your own soul.

Pastoring is a busy work.

It is a hard work.

But you must pay careful attention

to yourself.

We need to look no
further than Jesus Christ

as our example.

If you remember back in Mark 1,

He's teaching in the synagogue.

He begins to heal and
He goes to Peter's home.

It tells us that the
whole city came to Him

and He healed and cast out demons

starting at sunset.

Needless to say, this seemed to go on

into the evening.

But what do we read right after that?

Very early in the morning,

while it was still dark,

He went away to a desolate place

and He prayed.

Pastors, don't get so
busy with pastoral work

that you stop guarding and nurturing

your own soul.

Pay careful attention to yourselves.

Pastors are called to lead by example.

Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4,

set for the believers an example

in speech, in conduct, in love,

in faith, in purity.

What is the first responsibility

of all believers and pastors as well?

To pay careful attention to your soul.

To watch out your own soul.

Saints, can I encourage
you in something here?

You pray for your pastor's soul.

You pray that your pastor

would pay careful attention

to his own soul.

You pray for his marriage
that he would remain pure.

You pray for his heart to be enflamed

as he studies the Word

and as he seeks God privately in prayer.

Well, it goes on in v. 28.

They're not only to pay
careful attention to themselves,

but they're to pay
careful attention to what?

To all the flock.

To all of the flock.

Pastors are to pay careful attention

to all of the flock.

Paul uses shepherd language here

because that's what pastors are.

They're shepherds.

They look after the flock

that the Holy Spirit has made them

overseers of.

Think of this.

Who is that pastor responsible

to pay careful attention to?

This is another verse that
clearly demonstrates

the Bible assumes you are committed

to a local assembly overseen by elders.

If someone walks by today
and I meet them on the street

and they're a Christian,

I don't go, well, I'm
a pastor, I must oversee

and pay careful attention to your soul.

There are ones under my care

that God has entrusted
to me and my co-pastors.

And so it assumes that
you are in an assembly

under the oversight of pastors

who pay careful attention to your soul.

Pastors, let me exhort you in this.

Paying careful attention
to the souls of sheep

is not just a corporate thing done;

it's an individual thing done.

Just like you look after
your own soul individually -

you want to know, where am I at?

You're looking also individually

at the sheep entrusted to your care.

Pastors have concerns
over things like this:

Are they truly saved?

Are they genuinely converted?

Are they savoring Jesus Christ

above everything else?

Are they growing in conformity

to the image of Christ?

Are they abounding in love?

Pastors, we've got to know our sheep

to know these things.

So as we pay careful
attention to our own soul,

we do this proactively -

not just reactively when we see

one of the sheep begin to wander.

Yes, we leave the 99 like Christ

and go after the one,

but we need to be proactive

in our pastoring,

praying for them and knowing them

and tending to them,

paying careful attention to their souls.

How this is fleshed out in each church

under the plurality of elders

will look a little bit
different in each church.

But know this, you're called to pay

careful attention to all of the flock.

Next, we see what?

V. 28 again, "Pay careful attention

to yourselves and to all the flock,

in which the Holy Spirit

has made you overseers."

It is the Holy Spirit that
makes men pastors.

There's no program that
can make a man a pastor.

There's no seminary that
a man can be put through

and out pops a pastor in the end.

Those places are good.

They have their place.

They train men how to study the Bible,

how to put together sermons,

how to preach, how to organize,

but know this for sure,

it is the work of the Holy Spirit

that men are made pastors.

It's a work of God.

They are gifted by the Spirit

in the area of teaching

and they are given a shepherd's heart,

a love for the church.

One of the things we
always are looking for

as we're seeking and
praying for more elders

to be raised up -

not only their life and their character

as it talks about in 1 Timothy 3;

not only their gifting
and their ability to teach -

but do they have a burden and a love

for the local church

and the souls of the sheep
in the local church?

That is a defining mark

of the Holy Spirit pulling someone in

to become a pastor.

And what do they do? What do they oversee?

They oversee the affairs

of the church and the sheep.

You think of that word: they oversee it.

Elders oversee.

Peter gave a very similar admonition

in 1 Peter 5:3.

He says that they're not to be domineering

over those "in your charge,

but being examples."

Beloved, listen to this.

Pastors oversee.

They are in charge of the affairs

in the local church.

Yes, they are to be servant leaders

like Christ is a servant leader.

They are to be humble
as Christ was humble.

But don't mistake this:

They are to oversee.

And you can't be passive

when you're overseeing the affairs

of the church and the sheep.

Sometimes I think we get that confused.

Aren't they supposed to be servants?

Yes, they are to be servants.

But know this, in the
overseeing of the church,

and as Peter says here,

for those "in your charge," -

they have charge over you.

When you have charge over people,

notice this, you have to make decisions.

And Peter and Paul put that responsibility

to the elders to make decisions,

to have charge over these things.

Passive people don't
like to make decisions.

And I want you to know this:

pastorally, you are thrust into situations

that are very difficult all the time.

And pastors, you need to make decisions.

Prayerfully, carefully.

And you do get input

and talk with the congregation,

but at the end of the day,

it is those that Peter says and Paul says

are overseeing or in charge

that do make these decisions.

We'll talk about more of this tomorrow,

but I want us to know this.

When someone does make decisions,

there are always people who
don't like those decisions.

There are always people who don't agree

with those decisions.

And that doesn't mean your pastors

are not doing what they're supposed to do.

They are to oversee the
affairs of the church.

Pastors, let me exhort you in this.

Your job is not to please

everyone in the congregation.

The job of the pastor is not to please

everyone in the congregation.

The job of the pastor is to
look to the Word of God,

pray for the grace of God,

and make decisions for the
edification of the church

and the glory of God.

And those are hard decisions
to make sometimes.

So elders are to pay careful
attention to themselves.

They're to pay careful
attention to all the flock

which the Holy Spirit has
made them overseers.

They are to care for (v. 28)

or shepherd the church.

That word is the word we translate
in Ephesians 4 as "pastor."

The NASB renders it "shepherd."

Overseers, shepherd - pastor the church.

They must know the sheep.

We saw that earlier.

They must lead the sheep by example

watching over their own souls.

And they must feed the sheep

or pastor or shepherd the sheep.

What do we feed the sheep as pastors?

We feed them the full
counsel of God's Word.

And yes, a lot of that comes

through what we do right here -

standing up and preaching the Word of God.

But it goes beyond the pulpit.

It goes into lives.

It goes into conversations
across tables with each other

where we are caring and shepherding

and sharing truth with each other

face to face.

Can I encourage all of
us in something here

that will really help pastors

fulfill this call to shepherd the church?

Deacons.

Deacons are vital and essential

to the local church functioning properly.

What deacons do is they free the elders

from that responsibility

so that they can give themselves

to the ministry of the Word and prayer.

A deacon is a high calling.

It's an important calling.

And another thing that
you should be praying

for God to raise up in
your local churches,

because inevitably when
there aren't deacons,

those responsibilities
fall to your elders,

and what it does is it takes them away

from the ministry of the Word and prayer.

Pray that God would
raise up qualified deacons

for the church

so the elders and pastors may be freed

in their responsibility of preaching.

Pastors know this:

Shepherding a flock is a wearisome task.

We could bring up any pastor
in this room right now

and he could share
testimony after testimony

of how wearying it is

to faithfully and biblically
shepherd the sheep.

We look at these responsibilities

and we often say to ourselves

who is sufficient for these things?

You find yourselves growing
tired and weak and weary.

Oftentimes, being tempted
to have a pity party.

But I want you to remember this

what Paul says next.

Paul says something very important.

He says that the sheep were purchased

with the blood of Jesus Christ.

Pastors - and I'm speaking
to myself here -

this isn't really about us.

This is about Him.

This is a calling that we have,

but these aren't our sheep ultimately.

They've been entrusted to our care.

They're His.

And they were purchased with His blood.

And because He is worthy, they are worthy.

So don't look, pastors,
within the congregation

to find worth within them.

Just like all of us at times,

we're unkind.

The notion of sheep is not
a compliment in Scripture.

It's hard at times.

So, what do you do to motivate yourself?

To get up again the next
day and serve again?

You remember that their value is tied

to their union with Jesus Christ.

They were purchased with
the blood of Jesus Christ

and there is nothing of
more value on the earth

than Jesus Christ.

This is His church.

1 Peter 5 tells us that
there's one Chief Shepherd -

the Lord Jesus Christ.

And pastors are under-shepherds.

And they've been entrusted with the care

of His flock that was
purchased with His blood.

Remember this too:

Jesus Christ identifies
Himself with His church.

He says what you do
unto the least of these,

you do unto Me.

So pastors, know this,

your love for Jesus Christ

will be revealed in your
love for the church.

When you grow weary and tired,

remember Christ. Remember His worth.

Remember their worth in
their union to Jesus Christ.

May God help pastors
remain faithful to the end

in this calling that
they have before them.

Well, pastors here, we've seen

are to know the sheep.

They're to intimately know the sheep.

They're to lead the sheep by example.

They're to pastor or
shepherd or feed the sheep

the Word of God.

And then, finally this,

they are to protect the sheep.

Look at v. 29.

"I know that after my departure,

fierce wolves will come in among you

not sparing the flock,

and from among your own selves

will arise men speaking twisted things

to draw away the disiples after them.

Therefore, be alert, remembering

that for three years, I did not cease

night and day to admonish everyone

with tears."

In our church, we're working through

the Gospel of John.

You remember in chapter 10

where Jesus says that,

"I am the Good Shepherd,

and the Good Shepherd lays down His life

for the sheep."

Pastors, I want to exhort you

to lay down your life for the sheep.

In John 10, when Jesus says that,

He is contrasting Himself

with the Pharisees.

He calls them hirelings.

He says that when the hirelings

see the wolves come,

they walk away,

because they don't care for the sheep.

Guarding the church against wolves

is not fun.

It's very hard.

But we are to follow the example

of Jesus Christ to lay down our lives;

to lay down our comfort;

to lay down our reputations,

and defend the church from wolves.

I was sharing with Mack
and Tim earlier today,

when I was thinking of the Lord's calling

in pastoral ministry,

I thought about the responsibility

to protect the church.

But I always had in my mind

that this protecting of the church

would be from outside coming in.

I thought, yes, we'll protect against

heresy from coming in.

We'll protect against the
cults from trying to break in.

We'll be protecting the church

from all that's trying
to get into the church.

But if you paid attention here

to what Paul said here,

he said, "fierce wolves
will come in among you

not sparing the flock

and from your own selves will arise

men speaking twisted things

to draw disciples away after them.

Therefore, be alert."

Yes, pastors, we must equip our people

and protect them from outside assaults

of the enemy and untruth and heresy.

But I would say even more pointedly

you must protect the church

from wolves within,

infiltrating the assembly,

teaching twisted things -

sometimes outright heresy

and sometimes by magnifying something else

above Jesus Christ and the Gospel

as the centrality of the church.

Again, I think I could bring
every pastor in this room up

and they could give example,

after example, after example

of having to deal with
this in the local church.

I'll tell you that these wolves

typically come into the church

very passionate people,

speaking a lot openly with seeming joy

about the Word of God.

They're often very vocal.

And another characteristic of them

is they're often very likable.

And the reason why is they draw people

unto themselves.

But it's not too long before they begin

to teach twisted things to the sheep.

And I want to exhort myself

and all the pastors here:

be on the alert.

You guard the flock from within.

Look at Paul's love for
the church in v. 31.

He says, "For three years,

I did not cease night and day

to admonish everyone with tears."

You want to get a picture
of what that looked like?

Look back at v. 20.

He says, "how I did not shrink

from declaring to you
anything that was profitable,

teaching you in public and
from house to house."

It's beyond the puplit ministry.

Admonishing with tears.

It is often night and day.

It is often repeated admonitions.

But just as Christ, for the joy
that was set before Him

endured the cross,

may pastors be faithful

for the glory of God and
the joy set before them

to endure the cross.

Beloved, our love for Jesus Christ

is revealed in our love for the church.

So here's the summary again

of what we've seen so far.

The pastor, the elder, the overseer

is one office.

It must be a biblically qualified person.

They must remain qualified.

There should be a working and praying

towards a plurality of elders

who collectively shepherd/pastor

the church together.

The elders must know the sheep.

They must feed the sheep.
They must lead the sheep.

And they must protect the sheep.

And we think about those things

and we say again,

who is sufficient for these things?

But by the grace of God,

He gives the grace for
us to do these things.

Only by the grace of God

and the power of the Holy Spirit

can these things be done.

In closing, I want to
take you to one more

passage of Scripture that
we'll be in again tomorrow.

But I want to look at it from the
pastoral perspective tonight.

That's Hebrews 13 if you'll turn there.

We'll end on this.

If I had to choose one verse in the Bible

to summarize the role of elders

or pastors or overseers -

one verse in the Bible -
this would be the verse.

It says, "obey your leaders

and submit to them,

for they keep watch over your souls

as those who will have to give an account.

And let them do this with joy

and not with groaning,

for that would be of no advantage to you."

One summary statement for
what pastors or elders are:

They are soul watchers.

They watch over the souls of the sheep.

And then the closing, loving,

reminding exhortation.

"...As those who will give an account."

Men, we will give an account for these.

But we are not intermediaries.

We don't stand in between

the sheep and Jesus Christ.

You all have intimate,
personal relationships there.

But God has entrusted to under-shepherds

to watch over the souls of the sheep

which He purchased with His own blood.

And that keeps me up many nights

thinking about that.

This is the most serious
calling in the world.

And I pray that we as pastors,
we heed this calling carefully.

I pray you as saints,

you see the high calling

that has been put before your pastors.

And tomorrow when we come back,

now that you understand that pastor's role

is to oversee and shepherd the flock,

I'm going to help you understand then,

well, how do I relate to them?

And what is my
responsibility back to them?

So, let's close in prayer

and pray that God would raise up

biblically qualified pastors

and that we would
be faithful to our calling.

Heavenly Father, we come
to You in the name of Jesus.

Father, it's maybe impossible to grasp

the full extent of the value of the church

purchased with the blood of Christ.

But Lord, I pray that You would do

what we have been speaking of -

You would raise up
biblically qualified men

who are servant leaders,

but who heed the call to oversee,

to shepherd, to pastor this flock

that Christ has purchased.

God, that You help the men in this room

who are considering that calling,

that they would take it seriously.

That You'd give wisdom to the churches

as they discern these matters

and wisdom to the elders

in the raising up of other elders.

And that God, You'd help us as pastors

to be faithful to this calling

of which we will give an account.

Help us, O God.

Help us in these things to
grow in the understanding.

Grant us the grace of Your Spirit

to be faithful to the end,

for the glory of Christ

and the edification of the body,
we pray and ask these things,

in the name of Jesus, Amen.