you you you We're gonna start five minutes late, might need to be 10. Okay, we'll see, but at least five minutes late today. A lot of people had a hard time getting here. So just, if we won't start at the hour, but just for Jason and everybody, about five more minutes. and you you you you you you you you you Well, good morning. Welcome to the frozen Wisconsin. We knew it would be coming eventually, right? Yeah, it is winter in Wisconsin. Glad you could make it this morning. Now, some of the roads out there are really dicey and some people couldn't even make it out of their driveway. So they normally have problems. So welcome. Glad that you could make it this morning. And thank you for coming out on this cool day. A couple of announcements. Are we still having the college and career activity? Is that tonight or tomorrow night? Tonight. Tonight at the Weiss's house. All right. So six o'clock at Patty and Milo's home for the college and career age, we'll be having an activity. Remember that. This morning we are going to cancel the Sunday school hour, so after church this morning that will be all the activities here. Just remember that your praise and prayer requests are due as soon as you can get them done, but don't wait till the next Sunday, cause that will be the last minute so. And I'm talking to myself too, so I gotta get mine done as well. But let's try to get those in so Maria doesn't have a big batch to do all at once. Tuesday we are planning men's breakfast at 830 and. Two weeks from today, Aaron Smith will be here. And. Also, there will be a members meeting in two weeks as well at on the 28th. So remember members meeting and also a potluck at one and meet the pastoral candidate Aaron Smith. So if that's really his last name, I'm pretty sure it is. That's all that we have for this morning. So Pastor, glad to see that you were able to make it in this morning. Welcome. So yesterday, I woke up, I slept in until about eight, and I woke up and the furnace was out. So we called the furnace folks and I knew I needed to get outside and get the driveway clear. I mean, Maria's back was already sore from trying, so that's a joke, all right. Anyway, but my boys, they're third shifts, so they're sound asleep. So I'm out there for two hours trying to work. And when you're old like me, I know it's kind of a joke to some, but serious to others, your hands just, you can't even hardly grip anymore after about an hour and a half. And it was getting to that point. So I came in, and I did the best I could. One of our neighbors ended up coming with his tractor just before the furnace guy got there. So he was able to get down and everything's fine. We got the furnace fixed. But anyway, it was one of those days. And this morning was another one of those boardings where we actually used our snowblower and cleaned the driveway five times yesterday. It's like the shifting sands of the Sahara. I was looking at it this morning, and Tony was trying to get out with his car first, and then we were going to bring our van second, and he didn't turn the pause attraction off on his car. So when he hit the first drift, we snowblowed 45 minutes before Tony left, and we already had drifts. And so he hit that first drift, and his car just went sideways, and we're like, oh, we're never getting out. So anyway, thank you, Milo. for picking me up. Thank you Brad and Karen for picking the rest of my family up. We are here, but I want to, I'm not going to say who, but I just want to praise the Lord for a family who yesterday called three of our families here in our church and said, could you use some help with your driveway and sidewalk, cleaning things off. And there is a family in our church who helped three other families, folks that are older or widow, that type of thing, and got everything clean. One of our families said that it literally brought him to tears because he was out trying to get everything cleaned off. And so it's such a wonderful thing to be part of the body of Christ, isn't it? Praise the Lord for God's grace. All right, I need to quit rambling and get to our prayer request. So talked with Dennis Schilling yesterday. He had a biopsy, I think it was Thursday, on the bone marrow. The reason for that is his white and red blood count is really low, dangerously low. This is why he's not at church, not only because he doesn't have energy, but he cannot risk being around people because he is super susceptible to any kind of cold flu infection. So pray for our brother, he is very weak. And we don't know the result of the biopsy yet, but the fact that they're doing a bone marrow biopsy Yeah, says a lot. All right, so pray for him. Jill will be back on Saturday. She's in South Korea now, so pray for them. Darla Altman, so talk with Steve. Darla had surgery about a week ago up in Green Bay. It did repair the problem. She has stomach cancer, but it did repair the problem she was having, not the cancer, but another issue. So she's able to eat now. Things are better and she's back in her area. But pray for her and pray especially for her salvation. Milo is going to be witnessing to three men today at noon. So please pray for this. Gospel endeavor our person of the week is Bob Wallace. So pray for his service. He is retired Police officer, but he often puts in 40 hours. Okay, it's just how it works. They need extra help He's very willing and so pray for him with his service safety Especially at this time of year with the amount of accidents and things that it's kind of scary sometimes to be out and then for spiritual growth So two things for Bob Then our Overseas Servants of the Week. I'm not going to say their last names. Most of us know who they are, but Paul and Janessa. So they serve our father in Central Asia. They are going back to Central Asia at the end of this month. So pray for, number one, effectiveness for their business. Their business is the only way that they can be there. So pray that that goes well. Pray for fruit in the harvest fields. Okay, I'm protecting even the way I say it, right? So just pray for fruit in the harvest fields and then the opportunity to start a church among the Uyghur peoples. These are a Muslim group that span multiple countries. So just pray for the Lord to use them and use our friends as well as some others to help get a church started. Finally, our persecuted saint of the week is a man named Lai Pao, L-Y-P-A-O, Lai Pao. has led eight of the 108 families in his Hmong village to Christ, and has regularly hosted worship gatherings in his home in a country in Southeast Asia. The Hmong span multiple countries in the Siam Peninsula of Asia. So he's in one of those countries. Just a year after putting his faith in Christ, he himself was arrested and put in prison. In prison, he was repeatedly beaten to the point where he would go unconscious again and again and again because he's a follower of Christ. He has now been released from prison. He's resumed his ministry and continues to share the gospel. Powell says this, and I love this quote. No matter what they do to me, it will not stop me from sharing the gospel of salvation in this village. Wow, what faithfulness and fervor for the Lord. Let's pray. Father, we'll begin with a prayer for our friend, our fellow servant, Lai Pao, over somewhere in Southeast Asia. He is among himself. He has been saved now for a few years. He is an evangelist and a faithful pastor. We pray for him, for his safety. He is persecuted, not just by the government, but also by the people in the village. It is a dangerous situation, and he's not safe, nor is his family. And because of his bold witness, He regularly puts himself at risk, even of being rearrested. So we pray that you will give them much fruit for their labors. And for the other eight families, the husbands, wives, and children of these families, we pray also for protection and spiritual growth. Use the catalyst of this church in this village to eventually bring many, many others in that town to you. Thank you for them and thank you for his boldness. We pray for Paul and Janessa as they go back to Central Asia with a new baby in tow now. Lord, there's so much to get ready to do, even to move back, and just help them with the transition, the return. We pray for their business, that it will be effective, that you'll use that to allow them to remain long-term in this location. We pray for fruit in the harvest fields, that you will bring many to your son. And then we ask that among the Uyghur peoples with whom they work, that there would eventually be at least one solid, sound church led by Uyghur men and that it would grow and be a lighthouse in a very dark land. And then we pray for Bob. for your blessing upon him. We know he's retired, but yet not. And so he's probably had some really close calls here of late with just weather. So Lord, do protect him. And then we pray for his spiritual growth. And then for Dennis, Lord made the biopsy reveal nothing that is too serious and we pray that his healing will continue and not get worse. We think of Darla. For her physical recovery, yes, first, but for her spiritual sake, Lord, we just pray that you will save this dear woman. And then for the three men that Milo will share the gospel with today about noon, we ask that they would be most receptive. And that if it is your will, Lord, that even all three of them would come to know you. So Lord, may they all be there and we pray that they will respond. to the gospel because of your working in their lives. Thank you for this church. Lord, you have given us a wonderful group of believers. And you are, it seems, leading a very godly man and family here. So we pray for the next couple of weeks and beyond that you will Give our church your mind as they Each member votes and decides Lord we pray that in the next couple of months our church would have your mind and if it is your will and we think it is that you will provide a wonderful shepherd for the years to come for our wonderful church. So, Lord, grant us your grace as we sing, as we open your word. Bless us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Good morning, brothers and sisters, on this cold, brisk January morning. I'd first like to commend, I believe it's Miles and Keegan and Theo and Eli for shoveling today. That had to have been an ordeal. I know that I became an old man overnight shoveling that snow. So that family out there who I commend you also, I've become an old man. I'm kidding. So the one that helped the elderly brothers and sister. here. With that, I'd like to centralize our focus and Brad is. Sunday school is canceled. Did you announce that? I don't know if you did or not, so if you would be obliged to give me two extra minutes and passer Kurt an extra 20 will still get out of here and in time, but it is heavy on my heart and I didn't really prepare for this in a sense. So I'm trusting the Lord and you will. You'll hear my heart, but I want you guys all to go back to your first love, the day of your salvation. For some of you, you can remember that specifically. Some of you, it's a sporadic amount of time, but I must believe that during that time when you were transferred from death to life, something happened. You were regenerated and you had a love for God that was was unexplainable. I know my zeal was misguided in so many ways. I told too many people about the love of God in a somewhat unloving way, I suppose, sometimes. But my desire and my love for God was real and alive. And I want you to take a moment to let us all be like-minded and become one as a body when we worship the Lord this morning. So with that, I'm going to call the worship team up here, and I ask you to filter your love in the songs that we're about to sing, the very first song. Group, you can come up. The very first song we're going to be singing is, Oh Great God. Let us, through love of God, even though our love is not perfect, but let us try to find that place that we found in the very beginning of our salvation to worship God. So let us stand and worship our Lord. ♪ Vacuum my lowly heart ♪ ♪ For the all in great serene ♪ ♪ Found her every rebel power ♪ ♪ Let no vice of sin remain ♪ ♪ And resist her holy war ♪ ♪ And have loved and purchased thee ♪ ♪ Make me yours forevermore ♪ ♪ I was blinded by my sin ♪ Had no ears to hear your voice ♪ Did not know your love within ♪ Had no taste for heaven's joys ♪ Let your spirit take delight ♪ Open up your heart to me ♪ In the endless hope and peace ♪ ♪ Help me now to live a life ♪ ♪ That's dependent on your grace ♪ ♪ Fill my heart and guide my soul ♪ ♪ From the evils that I face ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ with my every thought and deed. Oh, great God of highest heaven, glorify your name to me. Oh, worthy to be praised with my every thought and deed. Oh, great God of highest heaven, glorify your name Now this next song we will be singing back to God in worship and we'll be singing about his love for us in the love of God. His heart is greater glory than tongue or pen can ever tell. He goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty bearer, the loved and carer that gave His son to Him. His erring child, He reconciled. ♪ Thou match of death so strong ♪ ♪ It shall forever bind you ♪ ♪ With the saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ And yet no time shall pass away ♪ ♪ When earthly foes and kingdoms fall ♪ ♪ God's love so true shall endure ♪ ♪ All measureless and strong ♪ ♪ Gazing in praise to God whose praise ♪ ♪ The saints and angels sung ♪ ♪ Oh, what love, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong ♪ and strong. He shall forevermore endure, who sings an angel's song. And we will be the ocean's men, who despise the parchment made. With every slug on earth I'm clear, and every man has tried my trade. Till I'm no more, I'm not a bother, but join the ocean tribe. Work in the scroll, and take a hold, Rich and pure, now measureless and strong. It shall forever flow with you through the sphinx and age. What a great love. I have heard it once said that God is not necessarily interested in our circumstances as much as he is with our character. As Brother Job, our ancient brother, said, though he slay me, I will trust him. And this next song, which is Blessed Be Your Name, pivots between the good days, where it's easy to glorify God, with the difficult days, where it isn't so easy to glorify God. But needless to say, God should be glorified in all circumstances. So let us sing and raise our voices to blessed be the name. ♪ Give me your name ♪ ♪ The land that is mountain floor ♪ ♪ The trees of abundance grow ♪ ♪ Just give me your name ♪ ♪ Jesus give me your name ♪ ♪ What I found in the desert place ♪ ♪ That I walked through the wilderness ♪ ♪ Just give me your name ♪ Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to praise. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say, blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name. ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ When the sun's shining down on me ♪ ♪ When the world's all as it should be ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ And the hope of Christ offering ♪ ♪ To His reign in the offering ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ When the darkness closes in on you, still I will say, Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your name. ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your glorious name ♪ You may be seated. Let us pray. O Father God in heaven, we come before you as your remnant, as your bride, and we ask you, Lord, to fill us up. Let our flasks be filled with oil, awaiting the coming of your Lord. Father God, we are a people who love you. We're devoted to you. And we ask you, Lord, to fill us up with this worship. We ask you to fill us up with the sermon. Feed us, Lord, your word, and let us receive it, and let us walk away changed today. If it is just one statement or many, Father God, change our hearts to draw closer to you. And Father, with this blessing of passing this offering on to you, I can't help but think of the Lord's prayer when it says, give us our daily bread. As we live in a form of judgment on America where inflation has grown, and we all know going to receive that bread and bring it home has been more costly. But let our giving today, Lord, be out of love and cheer and joyfulness. For, Lord, you are in control, and we trust you with all of our hearts and our minds and our souls. Lead us, Lord, not into temptations, but give us this daily bread. So we ask you, Lord, to bless this offering to you and bless this congregation. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. you. You. ¶ ¶ Yeah. Today's scripture reading is in the book of Acts, chapter two, verses one through 13. Please stand for the reading of God's word. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound, the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parithians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pothesh and Asia. Phygeia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own tongues and mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean? But others mocking said, they are filled with new wine. to know that that same Holy Spirit is in us. The next song we're going to sing is Behold Our God. of the oceans in His hands, who has numbered every great and sad. Kings and nations tremble at His voice. All creation rises to rejoice. Rejoice. See it on his throne. Come, let us adore him. Behold our King. Nothing can compare. Come, let us adore him. Has given counsel to the poor. ♪ Question any of his words ♪ ♪ Who can teach the one who knows all things ♪ ♪ Who can quell all his wondrous dreams ♪ ♪ Behold our God seated on his throne ♪ ♪ Come light out so darkened ♪ ♪ Behold our King ♪ Nothing can compare, come let us adore Him. Who has found no nails upon His hands, wearing of the guilt of sinful man? God eternal, humbled to the grave, Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign. Behold our God, seated on his throne. God, let us adore him. Behold. Nothing can compare. Come, let us adore Him. You may be seated. If you are going on the signs of life retreat, whether you are a teen or an adult, please come to me after the service. I have paperwork for you. Adjust to the microphone one second. There we go. All right, would you open in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter five. This is the New Year's message. We had a guest speaker, a really enjoyed Christian and his wife Emily, the Banks last week. We got to spend some time with them in the afternoon and then in the evening as well. And what a just a sweet couple representing Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa. But I didn't get to do my New Year's message on the first Sunday of the year like I normally do. So I've been thinking for a couple of months, what should I preach on? What theme do I wanna set our churches, the minds of the folks in our church on here at the beginning of the year? And as I prayed about it and thought about it, it was pretty obvious the best thing to do would be to talk about what to look for when choosing an elder, because we are in the midst of a pastoral transition, but it's not just the pastor who is one of the elders. I mean, we have multiple elders. So what are we looking for when choosing an elder? This sermon is going to ask that question. What are you, you as a church, what are you looking for in an elder? And I wanted to speak on this subject both to equip you to choose the next pastor of this church who is one of the elders, and to help set expectations so that you will treat your pastor and the other elders properly. Now, you have treated me very well. This is not a great session or anything. I am so blessed to be here. But it's good to have reminders, and it's good to maybe refine the direction just a bit. So today, Let's answer that question. What are you, as a church, looking for in an elder? 1 Peter chapter five, verses one through five. And we're not gonna be only in this passage this morning, we're gonna look elsewhere too, but this is our primary passage. So this is the Apostle Peter writing to churches in what today would be middle and northern Turkey. Okay, so northern Galatia. And here's what he writes to these churches. 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 that is going to be revealed. So what is he telling the elders of the churches in this region, as well as us now today? Shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Now we could stop and just have an entire sermon right there on that, but we're gonna do more, but that first and foremost is the job of an elder. It is the job of a shepherd. This is his responsibility. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly. Would you note in your text here, you have not, but three times. There are three sets of contrasting prayers, and that's the first one. The elders are to do their work not under compulsion but willingly as God would have you. Second pair, not for shameful gain but eagerly. Not all elders are paid, okay? Some are. The ones who are should not be serving for shameful gain, but eagerly. Third contrasting pair, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. How does the elder treat those underneath his authority? Very, very important. And when the chief shepherd appears, so again, he's talking to the shepherds, he's talking to the elders. When the chief shepherd appears, none other of course than Christ, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. clothe yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another. Why address the young? And in Peter's day, that'd be 30 and under. Why address them? Because younger people, especially younger men, can be very aggressive on their own thoughts about what should be done. Peter warns them, but then he warns all of us to treat each other with humility. Think of leaders as towel washers, they wash feet. This is Jesus' example. We'll come back to that. So, treat each other with humility, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Lord. Do empower me for service this morning. Help me to communicate your word faithfully, clearly, so that it is a blessing to all who are here. Lord, we have some of our members and regular attenders who couldn't be here because of weather or they're away. But so many are, they made it, and some at risk, maybe, of their lives. Lord, they are here, and they are, whether present in body, or whether watching online, they will be instructed today from the Apostle Peter's words. So help us as a church, as pastors, We appoint and reaffirm new elders, the Lord willing, at the end of this month. And then as we transition from the elder slash pastor in the next few months, Lord, guide our church, give them wisdom and may the wisdom that is gleaned, the instructions from the word help today and in the future. So bless us now as we pray in the name of Christ. Amen. All right, so back to 1 Peter 5, verse 1. Peter is exhorting the leaders in these churches as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Peter's not saying I'm above you. Even Peter, who is an apostle, is not above them. He's in tandem with them, he's a co-laborer with them. And he says, as well as a partaker in the glory. We all are partakers in the glory of God. The Holy Spirit lives in us, he's growing us, And that is going to be revealed fully at the end. Verse two, shepherd the flock of God. First and foremost, what is he telling the shepherds to do? What is he encouraging them to be? Shepherding the flock. So, let me re-ask the question. What are you as a church looking for in an elder. The apostle Peter gives us five things that we should be looking for in our elders. First, and I'm going to argue foremost, you are looking for shepherds. I'm going to take that from verse 2, shepherd the flock. Second, you are looking for godly leaders. These men exercise oversight. You want to choose men who are godly and who will treat you properly. Third, you are looking to avoid elders or potential elders who have bad motives. That's from verses two and three. Fourth, you are looking for elders who serve for the right motives. And finally, you are looking for men whom you can follow. So going back to the first point, You are first and foremost looking for men who are shepherds, who resemble shepherds, who are already doing the work of shepherding even if they do not yet have the responsibility. So what is a shepherd? Peter just assumes that they know that. Peter really knows that because of an encounter he had with the Lord Jesus. A challenge, a three-part challenge that he had from the Lord Jesus about this very point. Peter was a fisherman. And Jesus, and we're gonna turn to this in a second, in John chapter 21, Jesus tells Peter to stop treating people like fish, and to start treating them like sheep. As a fisherman, especially you see a Galilee Jewish fisherman, I mean, you pull up a catfish, you don't keep that thing. It's not kosher, you toss that back in. You have a fish that's not very big, not even worth keeping, toss that thing right back out of the net over the boat, OK. Even the ones you keep, just the way that you, that a fisherman treats fish is the way Peter was thinking about other people. And so Jesus challenges his thinking and says, stop treating people that way. Treat them instead the way a shepherd treats his sheep, which is very, very different. So let's turn to John 21 and get the background behind what Peter is writing here as the chief responsibility of the shepherd. So John 21. I'm not going to do a full exposition of this text because that would take an hour by itself. I'm gonna just kind of go over it more quickly, but please don't miss the challenge that Jesus is giving Peter. So this is near the end. I mean, Jesus has already been crucified, resurrected. He has met the disciples again up in Galilee as he promised that he would. They have been out fishing, Jesus has already fished. When they come back in, and there's a lot more background to the account, but I'm gonna just jump right to verse 15. This is where we are on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus has been on shore, the disciples are coming in. Jesus has prepared, he's already had fish, he's already prepared them. Now verse 15, when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? There are different possibilities for what Jesus is referring to with the word these, but I believe, and some others do, and I think it's the right way to go, that he's talking about fish. Do you love me more than your fish or your job as a fisherman? I'm not a big fisherman, I enjoy going out sometimes, but there are some in our church who love fishing, or hunting, or snowmobiling, or hiking, or whatever you enjoy doing. So think of Jesus as challenging Peter on something that he loves to do. Do you love me more than you love your favorite pursuit? Now, the first time Jesus asked this, Peter's like, absolutely. Okay, but he asks him three times, how come? He said, yes, Lord, middle of verse 15. Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs? What is Jesus saying? What is he telling Peter? He's telling Peter, he's challenging him, he's trying to redirect his thinking away from treating people like fish and having that kind of mentality from that occupation to treating people like sheep and having a mentality like a shepherd because Peter And what he is going to do, especially in Rome, in Jerusalem at first, then when he moves to Rome, it is gonna change Peter's life. His direction in ministry is majorly affected by this challenge. And so Peter in 1 Peter chapter five verse two, when he says to us, when we're choosing a shepherd or to the shepherds themselves, you gotta get this, this is critical. This is the kind of person you are looking for, kind of man you are looking for. Someone who will feed my lambs. Okay, real quick, background. For six months of the year, the sheep could eat the stubble in the fields and the grasses in the main part of Israel. But once the farmers planted, the sheep had to move from that area of Israel into what we call the wilderness, or what the scripture calls the wilderness. It's 10 miles wide up to 15 miles wide. by 60 miles long, it is rugged, mountainous, it is steep, and it is craggy. And during the summer months, when the sheep are in the main part of Israel, in the summer months, there's no grass, nothing, there's no water, there's no precipitation, it is sandy, chalky desert. But when the heavy winter rains come, early rains, the heavy winter rains and the latter rains come, what happens? Some grasses grow in this basically desert-like, craggy, rocky mountain area. So this is where the sheep have been guided from six months. of easy feeding to six months now where they will not be able to find the food. Six months where if they're not careful, the sheep could wander away and get lost and die or be attacked and killed and eaten by a predator. This is a place where they can tumble off the side of a cliff and not even, you know, they're just not thinking and they're just not careful sometimes and they can fall and and die that way. So this is where they are. They have caves up in the top of the mountains and then they walk down the mountainsides to find the grasses each day. But in the morning before all the flock rises, what do the shepherds do? They get up and there might be four, five, six shepherds for a flock of a thousand. The rule is about one to two shepherds per 100. So there'll be a flock of maybe a thousand, there'll be multiple shepherds, and they will get up, or before the sheep do, and they will take grasses that they have picked, special flowers they've picked from the day before, and they will go and they will wake up each little lamb, and they will get to know that little lamb, and they will talk with that little lamb, and kind of coo to that little lamb, and feed that little lamb. They take special care of the immature. This is the job of a shepherd is to feed the little lambs, that is new believers, young believers, immature believers, understanding the needs of people and meeting them. One thing that the shepherd should do, but Jesus didn't stop there. Verse 16, he said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Now you know Peter, Peter's probably like, You just asked me that question. What's going on here? All right, so I'm thinking that Peter probably cocks his head sideways and says, come again? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Guessing that's about the right tone. Jesus said to him, tend my sheep. In Greek, it's literally lead my sheep. Tend is the right idea, but leading is probably a little bit better. Lead my sheep. Why? Because they're starting up at the top of the mountain from the caves, and now they're going to have to go in the middle of the wintry, rainy season down these craggy mountains to a place where there's a little bit of a grass that's grown in the desert. and where the sheep can actually eat. And each time they move these large flocks, what happens? The whole area gets all eaten up. Then they have to move the flock a little further the next time or a different place the next time. Every single day, the shepherd has to take them somewhere else to find food. It is the, I'm gonna get to the food part in just a second, but it's the leading part that Jesus is talking about here. Take care of the little lambs. The immature in the church, the new believers in the church, watch out for them because they're susceptible, but also lead the entire flock. Shepherds are leaders. Look for men who lovingly lead the flock, okay, who show characteristics of leadership, but not just leadership like CEO business kind of leadership where it's all about my way or the highway and boom, this is how it's going to be, harsh kind of response. You don't want, you do not want, you do not want an elder like that. OK, you want an elder who is going to lead? Yes, be a leader. And being a leader's hard. And we'll talk about that in a second. But leading, OK, you want a leader. And then third, in verse 17, he said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? No, Peter, of course. Now he's grieved. Because he said to him the third time, do you love me? Responds to Jesus, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. The only thing Peter ever fed fish were worms. I realize they caught a lot of their fish mostly by net. There was pole fishing as well. He's not used to this. This isn't how he thinks. Peter is more like the CEO of a business. The way he's thinking now, he's like, let's get it done. I'm the leader. I'm going to ram it home. This is Peter's personality, and Jesus is adjusting that personality. See that? You don't want a leader like the way Peter had been. You want a leader like what Peter turned into. a feeder of sheep." So in 1 Timothy 3, it says that the elders are to be capable, it doesn't mean they have to preach or teach, and in fact, it's pretty clear that some of the elders don't regularly preach and teach. I get that from 1 Timothy 5, 17, okay? Some of the elders aren't going to be regularly teaching, but they can teach, they are apt to teach, is one of their qualifications. But at least for some of the elders, They must be feeders, capable of taking the Word of God, studying it, and then putting the food of Scripture, spiritually speaking, on the table so that people can partake. Go back to 1 Peter. This is what a shepherd is. You are looking for men who are like the new Peter, not like the old Peter. I mean, there are some really good qualities about the Peter before the grace had changed him that much, right? He's growing, but he's still really struggling. But as Jesus has challenged three times, yes, it grieved Peter at the moment, but Peter never forgot it. It kept working through Peter's mind and God used that, Christ used it to change him. So now he's different and he's telling elders, First and foremost, you need to be shepherds. I learned that lesson from the master himself. Please shepherd the flock of God. All right. What are you looking for in an elder? Second, you are looking for godly leaders. You're looking for shepherds. You're looking secondly for godly leaders. See the words exercise oversight? So let's reread verse two. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, number one. Number two, exercise oversight. First of God. Let's deal with that before we go right to the exercising oversight. Whose flock is it? In other words, who owns the church? It is not the pastor slash elder, it's not the group of elders, it's not anyone in the church. Who owns the church? God does, Jesus does. That's a no-brainer, but it's important to point that out, because what Peter is saying here is that the elders exercise oversight, but not lordship, okay? They aren't lords, they aren't dictators. They aren't they aren't hard and crusty and have to have it their way avoid an owner like that none of the ones that are nominated are that way and I don't know Aaron that well But I in just meeting him and I trust the five men who have been on the committee. He's not that way. Thank God and they've done lots of conversations with others other than Aaron and talking about Aaron, and he is the right kind of leader. I'm not trying to promote him like you have to vote for him. I'm just simply saying, I know that the committee has done a really good job in the search, and I think selected a great leader for you. All right, enough said on that. What about exercise oversight? All right, this needs a little time. We need to understand what that means. Exercising oversight, the elders have oversight. Now this is, in Greek, I'm not gonna say it, it doesn't mean anything to you, it's maybe a couple people, it's an ingressive aorist, huh? All right, what does that indicate? It indicates, and I'm quoting from an author, it indicates something that needs to be done. with ever new vigor rather than as a routine undertaking. You hear that? This is a challenge to me and Brad. It's a challenge potentially. I'm praying for John. He is, you can see the ballot. He's been nominated and accepted, John Mason. I mean, I am really excited, very excited this year, okay, for the men that I think you have nominated and selected and will most likely appoint through your vote as a congregation, right? For us, those who are elders, as well as for you who are choosing elders, you want an elder who's not out of gas. And when you start seeing them sputter, Their tank's empty or near empty. You need to give them a break. Give them a little sabbatical of a month and tell them don't do anything until you get spiritually refreshed. So again, this indicates something that needs to be done with ever new vigor rather than as a routine undertaking. You are looking for a man who He cares enough to get out of his comfort zone and meet the needs of the people and lead properly. He needs to be spiritually refreshed. a pastor's thing in Washington, D.C. a number of years ago. And the founder and director of Nine Marks Ministries, which is all about the church, highly respect him. His name is Mark Dever. Some of you have read some of his books. Mark Dever, godly man and really wise. He told all, there were 125 of us, we were all elders. Some of us were like pastors, some of the ones that were there were not paid elders, but they were elders, lay elders. And he told us, especially to the lay elders, he said, you need to go back to your churches and lead the charge for giving your pastor four weeks of vacation if he does not already have that every single year. Now, I had three weeks of vacation when I came, and at the fifth year, the elders gave me a fourth. As far as I remember, I've never even used the fourth. This year, I got the third week of vacation in literally the last week of the year. You need to make sure that Aaron, or whoever it is, if it's not Aaron, I don't wanna assume, but I think it will be, but whoever it is who is the next pastor, you need to, now if you give them three weeks at first, whatever you decide, that's up to you. I'm moving out. I'm not, I am not going to dictate anything. I'm trying to be very careful to pull back, but as a pastor in the transition here, trying to prepare you and help you think this through. So whatever amount of weeks you give him, make him take those weeks of vacation. I can't tell you. Sometimes my gas tank is, you know, down to fumes. All right? You need vacation. And you need it more than you realize as an elder. So I'd encourage you to give, assuming Brad and John are both affirmed, give them a little time off maybe, but for sure give whoever your next pastor elder is, give him time off. He needs it. That refreshing of just not having the weight on him is gonna help him serve you better. It's not like he's wasting time. You're allowing his battery to recharge, okay? So again, exercising oversight. There is a line between exercising oversight in verse two and later in our text, not domineering. Do you see the balance there? There are two ideas and they're complementary, not competing. On the one hand, the elders are to exercise oversight. On the other, they are not to be domineering. Now some of the domineering is really ugly and it's very obvious, but yet there is a fine line even with some of it. I'm gonna save not domineering for when we get to that verse in a little bit, but let's keep working with exercising oversight. You want a godly leader who's Christ-like, not a leader who's bossy. That's what domineering is. So folks, I know I've got what, five months left roughly, five and a half? So it's easier even now to say these things. Now that it's not benefiting me personally, maybe just for a short time, but it's not benefiting me personally. It's actually easier for me. I'm freer to be able to say these things. But this is what, I am saying exactly what Peter is describing. You must exercise oversight, elders. So people in the church, let your elders lead. You are not in charge. The elders are in charge. That's why it's really important to pick godly men. You are under them. The scripture's so clear in this, and I'm not going to lots of cross-references, but you are under their authority in the church. They don't have authority in your home. That's domineering. They don't tell you what house to buy, how to spend your money. They don't tell a young person who they're to marry. That is going way beyond the authority. The authority of the elder stops where scripture stops. And it doesn't, now look, if you're about ready to make a sinful decision, the elder should try to help. But understand that we're talking about the church. So this is why it's really important to choose godly men. The Bible gives them authority over you and over our church. The church constitution also gives, just like scripture does, the church constitution is married to the scripture and it gives that same authority that scripture does to the elders of our church. The elders of this church have the authority, according to our constitution and scripturally, they have the authority to remove anyone from any position. Now let that sink in for a minute. This is a lot of authority. You need to be careful with the men you choose. They can remove a Sunday school teacher, a ministry director, the elders can even remove the deacons. Think about that. Now, it's not happened. As far as I know in the history of the church, it's never happened where they've removed a deacon, but they have the authority to do that, constitutionally and scripturally. Pick godly shepherds. The deacons, by the way, are not in charge. That is so clear in Scripture. Look at Acts 6 as an example. The deacons lift the load off of the elders by doing the menial tasks so the elders don't have to do that. but the deacons aren't in charge. They don't make the calls. They're part of decision making, but they don't make the calls. The elders have oversight. They exercise oversight over every single part of ministry. It doesn't mean that they're always gonna get involved in everything. In fact, that wouldn't necessarily be good, but they have oversight. So, treat the next pastor and treat your current elders with respect. Turn to Hebrews. Chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Let's look at verses 17 and 18. Evidently, whoever wrote Hebrews, we're not sure who it was. There are good guesses, but. that was never signed. So, what was happening? I mean, there were some problems between the leaders of the church and the members of the church. And so, without going through the full context, because there's a lot in chapter 13, I'm just gonna take us right down to the point. Writer of Hebrews, inspired by the Spirit of course, says obey your leaders and submit to them. Again, now a leader can abuse his authority. Now, if there's abuse of authority, you need to, if it's serious abuse of authority, then an elder can be removed. That's what the church votes for, okay? That's why we have reaffirmation of elders and so on. So if there's true abuse of authority going on, the church has the mechanism, thank God, to remove an elder. But if there's not some kind of clear sin or heavy handed domineering, pushing, you know, something like that where they're clearly beyond the bounds and regularly doing it. then you obey them and submit to them. Now what happens when they make a call that you don't like? That's leadership. Well, this family or this family, they want this, these other families want this. That's every, almost every major decision, you have that kind of conflict. So when the elders as a group make a decision and you're like, I don't know, I don't really like that, it's not what I wanted. What did Peter say? We're gonna get there, verse five. Humble yourselves. Just support them. Just love them enough where you're not gonna drive your agenda, all right? So obey them and submit to them. This is what the sheep, this is the responsibility of the sheep toward the shepherds, is to honor them, not like you're honoring Christ, but honor them, respect them. Why? Verse 17, for they are keeping watch over your souls. as those who will have to give an account. Probably John Brad, myself for a little bit more, maybe Aaron Smith, hopefully. I mean, our job is to watch over your souls. Every elder needs to live with this next statement because we're gonna give an account. The chief shepherd is coming back. and he is gonna hold elders accountable for how they executed their office. Did they treat the people like sheep or like fish? What was their love and their compassion and their concern for the others? They are keeping watch over your souls. So Peter says, obeying the, or I'm sorry, the writer of Hebrews says, obey them, submit to them, because they're going to give account. Middle of verse 17. Let them do this with joy. and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. You know, in the workplace, and I realize that the sheep are not employees and they don't work for the shepherd, okay, that's false. But there is some parallel in the analogy here. So, in the workplace, we've probably, if you've been around a little older, you've worked with somebody who just was not a good worker. They made problems for coworkers, they gave their foreman or the supervisor or whatever the structure is in the company, they gave them problems. You got a worker who doesn't want to be there, who sometimes just calls in with really no good excuse and doesn't come. or maybe doesn't even call in. They get to work, and they hardly do what they're even supposed to do. And they put extra pressure on everybody else because they have to lift the load for them. And they want to go home as soon as possible. They cause problems for the company. Sometimes those problems can cost serious dollars. All right. I have an illustration of mine. I'm just not sure I get to protect people. But anyway. This is real. There are times when, you know, you've worked with somebody and they just were not, they weren't supportive of leadership, they criped and complained and they created problems that made it just difficult for everybody. That's what the writer of Hebrews is saying. Let your elders serve with joy, not with groaning. you know, pecking and needling, and I didn't like that decision, and trying to force your agenda, I want it my way kind of stuff. I mean, the elders hopefully are praying, and when they're making decisions, they're being godly men. We're not perfect, right? You're not, we're not, they're not gonna be perfect in their leadership. But generally speaking, Let, you know, support them unless there's something sinful. I think you know that. But unless there's something sinful or clearly wrong, support them. Even if you disagree with the decision they made, don't give them grief. Don't make them, you know, groan versus serve with joy. Why? Into verse 18, because it's not to your advantage to do that. For that would be of no advantage to you. Why make their lives miserable? Verse 18, pray for us for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things. All right. Back to 1 Peter chapter five. It is sad that some Christians confuse influence with authority. Every member of the church has some level of influence, right? Everybody does. Everyone can benefit the church by using their spiritual gifts, whether they're members or regular attenders, or they can detract from the church. Everybody has influence, all of you, okay? And those who are watching, and it's not just for our church too, it's for any church. It's sad sometimes that Christians confuse influence with authority. They want the authority of the elders. They wanna be elders. They want the, not just the influence, but they want the actual decision-making authority of the elders and use their influence to harm the church by working against the elders rather than submitting and supporting the decisions. They work against the elders because they have a minor disagreement and they try to push their agenda. They hinder rather than help the elders. And what happens? Pastors quit. Elders are like, I don't want to serve anymore. This is enough. Maybe they don't leave the church, but it's enough. Now, I have an illustration in mind, which is what I've been leading up to here in the last part. I'm not going to say his last name, but Pastor Dave. Wonderful guy. So the Lord used him to start a church in the Midwest. Probably it grew over 10 years, 15 years, maybe it was 15 years, to about the size of our church. Just a blessed guy, wonderful. Good leader, strong, wonderful guy, loving. And a church out east called him and asked him if he would candidate. So Dave flew out with his family, preached, ended up going back to candidate. They called him there. What he did not know is that there were families in the church who were hiring him to serve them versus him being the leader. They were the leaders and they were hiring him to do their bidding. He was there for two years, and it was so toxic. And I know this man. He's a friend. It was so toxic. He's just like, I don't even want to be a pastor anymore. I am out of here. And he left. Now, thankfully, a lot of men got around him and supported them through the pain. And he is back in ministry now and serving very faithfully. Godly. God, I love the guy. We're not like that. You're not like that. I'm just saying, be careful. There's a book out there, a good book, that talks about, in fact, Milo shared this with me some time back. Anyway, so it talks about old berries and new berries, those who were at the church before the pastor came and those who came to the church after the pastor got there. And I've mentioned this, I think, one time before, but the old berries aren't totally trusting of the new pastor. The old berries, in other words, those who were there before the pastor got there, they kind of think that, you know, they need to just, like, be careful and maybe control and so forth. And if he makes, or they as elders make a decision, well, that new pastor, I don't know, I don't trust him. That's the way old berries, in other words, those who were there before the pastor, they kind of feel like they own things and they have a hard time submitting, as scripture says, to the authority. But man, those who come after the pastor's been there, they came and were under the ministry of the pastor, the elders, and they tend to normally be very, very, very supportive. Think about that. If Aaron Smith is the next pastor, think about that when he comes. Don't treat him as a hireling. Don't treat him, because he's not. He's the man God, if we vote him in, then he's the man God has selected to lead you, right? Be careful with your choices. So I'm looking at the clock and I think I need to stop here and then finish this next week because I still have three more points to go. So let's stop here now. Next week what we'll do is talk about the third reason or the third thing that you're looking for in an elder which is Avoiding elders with bad motives. So we'll talk about what it means to be under compulsion versus serving willingly. We'll talk about what shameful gain is and what it means to serve eagerly. And then we'll talk about not domineering those in your charge but being examples to the flock. I wanted to get to that domineering part so that it balances out the authority because there might be in the back of someone's mind like, what kind of authority do these, you know, elders have? Is this, you know, I feel abused or something. Well, you might be abused. I mean, that's possible, right? So, that, the balance to the authority, that domineering statement, we're going to get to. Lord willing, next week, unless we get snowed out or something. But God wants men who are willing to wash feet. That's what he wants in leaders, okay? That's what he wants in all of us, people who are humble and serving Christ. Fourth, we'll look at you are looking for elders who serve with the right motives, and then finally, you're looking for men that you can follow. So, let's close in prayer, and we'll be dismissed. Our Father. We are in the process of a transition. I've been praying, Brad, Dan, John have been praying since I let them know back I think January or something of last year about the possibility of moving to missions and the entire church has known Father since July. We've had, by your grace, a strong search team who has been guided by you to a man who, if he is called, then we've been praying for him for some time. Father, we have prayed that you would guide us to that very man. We have prayed for him and his wife and if he had kids for them too. We prayed for their family. We prayed that they would be the perfect match, the next shepherd, pastor, elder for this church. And we are now to that point where in two weeks he will be coming. And then at the beginning of March coming to Canada. Father, we do pray that you will help us to support, if he is brought here, to support him and love him, and we just pray that the years ahead for this church, a church that loves your word, a church with unity, a church led by godly men, a church that has many, many strong men and women who serve in so many ways. Lord, you've given a the Sheboygan area, not just our church, but our church as a really good example of how a church should function, how needs are met, and also a bright light to the lost and the dark place. So Lord, may the years ahead for our church be great ones, not good ones, great ones. We pray, if Aaron is called, that you will use him to do marvelous things here, help the people who are here to follow him and not to follow me in any way, shape, or form after I'm gone, but to support him and not to second guess him and all the elders together as they make decisions that affect the flock. So bless our church, we pray. And as we go home today with the crazy weather out there, we pray that you'll protect us all, keep us safe, keep us out of the ditch, and get us all home. We pray in Christ's name, amen. Let us all arise, stand, and finish this congregational meeting, but let us not end our worship here. Let us go out and shine into the world. Let us sing, Arise and Shine. Arise and shine, for the light is come. Arise and shine, for the light is come. Have a good day, you are dismissed. Yeah. Yeah.