Well, last week Tim began this course on selecting a pastor or identifying a pastor. And he looked last week at the role of preaching and the importance of preaching. He asked if I would take up this week and discuss the matter of pastoral gifts. And so there is a handout that's at the back of the church. If you didn't get one when you came in, you're welcome to one. I think Megan has a few copies there as well. There certainly is a lot that can be said on the issue of pastoral gifts, and there's a lot that Scripture gives us to guide us in this process of identifying a suitable under-shepherd. And so I've listed for you at the very top of that page a number of passages I would encourage to you as you would take on this very important work of hearing candidates and asking questions of them during the time of interview and better understanding what you might expect of one whom God calls to this pastoral role. So passages like Ezekiel 34, of course, Psalm 23, Luke 15, John 10 and 21, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, Titus 2, 1 Peter 3. All are passages which lend something to our definition of the work of a pastor. So before we begin, let me open us in prayer and then we'll look into this issue of shepherding. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this opportunity that you afford a congregation to Begin once again to to hear candidates, to hear those men that you have called to be preachers and pastors to come and to demonstrate their gifts, their passion, their vision for service to you and your church. Lord, I pray that you would bless our time today as we reflect upon the work of a pastor, that we might know how to ask good questions when the opportunity arises. And what we might have our eyes fixed upon and looking for in those that you put before us, Lord, guide us in this. And Lord, we pray that you would guide us as a congregation to to one heart and one mind on this matter of calling a pastor. We thank you for the luxury that you have given us to give us a year to contemplate this process and to begin this process. while still enjoying the benefits of the pastor on site. Lord, we pray that you would bless this discussion, this talk this morning. We pray these things in Christ's name, our Great Shepherd. Amen. Well, when I was beginning to do a little bit of study on this topic, this is one that I do enjoy. It's one that's near and dear to my heart because I've wrestled with it and continue to wrestle with it quite a bit myself. As you go through scripture, there are three different ways that pastors often are described. They're described either as soldiers, as athletes, or as shepherds. I've chosen today to emphasize the issue of the shepherd, but there are elements of the other two to be found within the duties of a shepherd so that it isn't lost. When we think of the athlete, when we think of the soldier, we see in both of those individuals a need for discipline, a need for being about with great intensity, preparation and practice in looking ahead to the challenges that may be before them or the race that is to be run. So, discipline is necessary. Well, there's no less discipline needed for a shepherd. And so we're going to look at a number of different issues, duties of the shepherd. And certainly if there are questions that come here at the end, we'll be taking those up. But I also didn't want to overlook the importance of the last segment today, which is our duty as sheep. We can get so focused upon what is the duty of the shepherd that we forget that there are things that we contribute to making the job of a shepherd an enjoyable one. And not a burden or a frustration, so we'll be dealing just briefly with our duties as sheep So the duties of a shepherd the first duty of a shepherd is that of feeding the sheep when I grew up on a farm my grandfather raised about 300 head of sheep and There was it didn't take long to figure out that sheep that weren't fed didn't live very long the importance of feeding sheep There's hardly anything more important to the work of a shepherd than ensuring that the flock is filled, has the right food, has the food that is needed when it's needed. There's also an element by which a shepherd doesn't want a sheep to eat too much. We had to deal with that issue on a few occasions when you turn a sheep out on new pasture and it would go out and eat too fast, too much. and be bloated, uncomfortable, filled with gas, and you had to relieve that pressure. So there is an element of being a gatekeeper that a pastor or a shepherd has in this duty of feeding his sheep. So sheep that are not fed or watered are very short-lived. And as we read through Psalm 23, we have a wonderful picture of a shepherd there as the shepherd lovingly leads his sheep, God's sheep, into green pastures and along streams where they would have all of the necessary elements for Their living that they would be well fed and well watered there's another thing that tends to stem from this duty of feeding sheep and And I could see that every time I visited my grandfather's farm He would go out he would make one call or a whistle and Those sheep would come running They knew at what time of day they were typically fed and it didn't take much. Sometimes they would even just see his his coat while they're out on the pasture. They'd see the coat that he would typically wear out into the feedlot and they'd come running. Well, sheep have a good recall of those who provide for its daily need or their daily needs. And pastors are the same way. And we've had the luxury of many years of service by our present pastor here. And we see this in the way in which the flock comes running, or seeks out that shepherd, or who do you call first when you find yourself in the hospital or facing a test, but that pastor. Sheep need to have that recall, but it's very apparent in sheep. Cattle don't do this quite as much. I mean, they'll come. We raise cattle, pigs, and sheep, but sheep especially would come running in the presence of the shepherd. They would see him, they would hear him, they would respond appropriately. And so, those are key issues of feeding the sheep. And what does feeding the sheep involve but what we studied last week? That preparation for and the putting before the congregation solid teaching from the Word of God. Our food, our sustenance, that which ministers to our every need. And so the shepherd has to be disciplined, much like that soldier, much like that athlete in the preparation of the food for the flock, spending adequate time in the study that he can come prepared and bring the word of God to bear upon the needs of the sheep. The Blue Book, our Constitution, lists these following responsibilities for a pastor. The responsibility of preaching, of teaching, of training, and administering the sacraments. All are these elements that could be typified or fall under this umbrella of feeding the sheep. And so, our pastor-to-be will have duties each week opening God's Word and preaching to us. He likely will also demonstrate his passion and love for the flock in that he will be looking for opportunities to teach. either through Bible studies, discipleship groups, mentoring, whatever it may be. But these are ways that a shepherd tends the flock and helps to ensure that that flock grows and develops as it ought. The second way that a pastor labors is in leading the flock. And this is, again, something very different when you're dealing with sheep than when you deal with cattle. With cattle, the cowboys tended to drive the cattle. And we, or God's church, is not a group of cattle. God has chosen to identify us with sheep, and sheep follow their shepherd. And that, again, was something that I could see at a very early age out on the farm as my grandfather would go and walk across the pasture and those sheep would fall into line behind him and follow him to wherever he would go. When my grandfather would go on vacation, he would often give the responsibility of feeding and tending the sheep to my brother and I. And so we'd have to go over early in the morning and feed the sheep and let them out in the pastures and make sure they came in at the end of the day. It was never as easy for us as it was for my grandfather. My grandfather could step out the back door of his house, be seen from the pasture, and half of the work was done in the next two or three minutes as those sheep ran up. My brother and I often had to run all the way to the end of the pastures to make sure we brought up all of the possible strays that didn't have the same response to us that they did to their regular shepherd. So the way in which a shepherd leads sheep is radically different from that of the cattle driver. As the word works in the life of the shepherd, the sheep will follow, and there is another aspect here that a pastor leads, also by his example. As he has the luxury of regular time spent in the word of God, in personal study, in preparation for bringing the word before us each and every Lord's Day, there is also that opportunity for us to view in him the effect of God's Word upon his life, in his family, in his personal life. And so that working out of the Word of God in the life of the pastor is also something that should evoke within us, the sheep, a hunger, a desire to see that same effect take place within us as we would get to know God better through regular study of the Word of God. The flock is attuned to the voice of the shepherd. And I mentioned this before, this would keep coming back to it. It is such an important part of the work of the shepherd that the sheep are tuned in to hear that voice. My brother and I could yell from the back porch of my grandfather's house, those sheep wouldn't come running. You know, if they were hungry enough, maybe they might. But my grandfather could call them for any reason and they would come. That is an effect that a shepherd has, a pastor can have on the congregation as well. And as he would be about his study, as he would be concerned about, and we're going to talk later about protecting the flock, when he calls, when he calls upon us, when he comes to visit, when he offers godly counsel as good sheep, our ears should be attuned and listening. and seeking those opportunities to grow under the leadership of a godly shepherd. Now, not only does the shepherd lead. He leads them into good pasture. He leads them into places where they may rest. All of those things stem from the Word of God. But there's also an aspect of tending to the flock that the shepherd does. The shepherd, the pastor, looks after those that are ill, those that are weak, those that are injured. He tends to their wounds. And we certainly have seen that in the pastors that God has provided us here at Geneva and at First RP. That's when it becomes known that someone is in the hospital, our pastors find out and visit. They check in on them. If they find out that there is a test to be coming up, it is our pastors who tend to call upon us and see how we're doing and ask if there are ways that they can help. If they know that we've gone through a particular hard time, maybe a loss of a job or other financial difficulties, they tend to those wounds of God's people. And that's another important aspect of the shepherding of God's flock. There has to be a care, a love, a concern for the people of God such that we're not content to see people hurting. And we bring the best that we can to minister to them when they are hurting. Again, bringing to them the word of God. The shepherd needs to be able to demonstrate discernment He needs to be able to discern, have the ability to identify and meet the needs of the flock. Well, to identify needs often means he needs to be made aware of them or at the very least be in proximity to them that he might respond. And so it's important that a pastor spends time with the people of God. But he can know them in a more intimate way than just through the greeting line every Lord's Day. There is a lot of shepherding that can be done from that doorway as you have opportunity to share with your pastor what's coming up in the coming week or what has happened in the past week in those moments. But you're not limited to that. And you should look for opportunities to help your shepherd get to know you better so that he can tend to you as he's been called to tend to you. So the pastor observes and he visits the sheep in order to inspect them, make sure that they are in shape, that they're healthy, that they are themselves practicing those things that they have been being taught. and to minister to them. And so it is good for us as sheep to have open homes where a pastor can feel free to drop in and see us and visit with us and know that we are just as eager to see him as he may be to see us. Next, protect the flock. The shepherd of God is not a hired hand. When challenges arise, It should not be the response of an under shepherd or a shepherd to flee. But understanding who it is that we serve as elders, as pastors, we are to be diligent protectors of the flock. That means that elders and pastors have a responsibility to be familiar with the threats, the dangers that are ever present around the flock of God, and to have right procedures, right stance and a defensive posture in place to meet those challenges and those threats that may come upon the church. That's why you'll see that many pastors spend a good considerable amount of time reading the news, latest publications, that they can be aware early on of the newest philosophies and wisdoms of men. that may befall or beset the people of God and lead them astray. That they can be ahead of those problems and address them early on. And so the shepherd protects the flock. And Christ has equipped the shepherd with the tools necessary to do that. Every shepherd is equipped with a rod and a staff. Every shepherd has been equipped with the Word of God. to guide and direct, to counsel, to rebuke, to discipline those that need those things. And then when those threats and dangers are identified, the pastor of God, the shepherd of God speaks passionately and with urgency to warn the flock of dangers. You know, when my grandfather would look out his window and see a coyote or coyotes running across the corner of the property and the sheep were out in the pasture, he'd often step out and call the sheep up to the house. Seeing the danger, his first response was to protect the sheep, to get them out of harm's way. Fifth, care for one. Yes. How did he call the sheep? He whistled. Yeah, he whistled and they would come running. He could talk as well. They would respond to his voice if he called sheep, sheep, they'd come. But it was interesting because the sheep clearly had their ears tuned to him, but I was still pretty amazed at how often they focused their eyes, too. You know, as I said, they recognized his coat. If he stepped out or if he was out in the backyard for any reason, they were often hovering up against the fence in the pasture to be closer to. So they had not only their ears, but their eyes open, which sure makes it nice to deal with sheep when they do that. Care for wandering sheep is another aspect of pastoral work, and I think it is important for us to realize I chose the words here specifically wandering sheep as opposed to chasing every kind of goat. A pastor has a particular responsibility to those entrusted to his care, part of the flock that God has has allowed him to be the under shepherd. So when I'm talking of caring for wandering sheep, I'm talking about those that are erring in their Christian walk, those that are have wandered and are lost. A shepherd has a responsibility to tend to those who are erring, as opposed to necessarily chasing after the goats, which you might liken to chasing after something that really doesn't want to be a part of the flock. But he has a responsibility to you, the sheep. So the shepherd, and we get this out of Luke 15, 1-7, he so values the sheep that have been entrusted to his care. that he's not content to let one wander off. He isn't satisfied with the 99. He realizes the one is missing and he goes out and he looks for the one and brings it back. And my brother and I would marvel at my grandfather's capability to know whether or not all of his sheep were present. You know, to to my brother and I, they all looked like sheep. You know, they but my grandfather knew all of their little idiosyncrasies, all of their little characteristics that made them identifiable amongst all those other sheep. And so he would often be the first one to realize that there was one not there. And this was often especially important around lambing season. Because the ewes would wander off in order to have their little lambs. And my grandfather knew when there was a ewe missing. and would send my brother and I out, or he would go out himself to try to find that you in her lands. So there is a great importance that a shepherd will be evaluating the congregation such and aware of each one of you such that he knows when you're not out there, when you're absent Lord's Day morning, Or when you become distant. He knows. And he expresses his concern through a phone call, through a visit, through sitting down with you over a meal and talking about what's going on to try to discern how best he might apply God's word to that situation that has arisen in your life, that you might continue to grow and develop and be returned to the flock. Now there is some confusion out there on the internet as it relates to what the shepherd would do to a straying sheep. And I think there's a misuse of the word break that is often utilized. That the shepherd would go out and for that sheep that would continually stray off, he would break the leg of the sheep and bring it back in order to ensure that for a period of time that sheep would be unable to stray and would be in close proximity to the shepherd such that from that point forward, it would always have a natural inclination to be near the shepherd. I think instead of B-R-E-A-K, the correct word should have been B-R-A-K-E, they would tie a break or something to the leg of the sheep that would make it very difficult for the sheep to run or to get away. And through that period, rather than breaking the leg of the sheep, which would make it of not much value to a shepherd who has to move sheep around and lead them, this would give that sheep the opportunity to be in close proximity and to begin to see the benefits of being nearer to the shepherd than far away from the shepherd. So break, B-R-A-K-E, the leg. And so the shepherd, as he is made aware of those who are erring Don't be surprised if you're your next pastor also looks for ways in which to bring you into closer fellowship with the body of Christ to bring you back from that season of sin you might be in or those challenges that are alienating you from the flock. And that is by design that as you would once again experience the blessings of the body of Christ. that you would hunger for it more and be less likely to stray in the future. Now, it is important. It's important for us as sheep, and it's important for shepherds to understand that the shepherd cannot do the work of the sheep, meaning that the pastor can't solve our problems. The pastor can't fix all of these things. The pastor can lead us back to God's word. He can give us godly counsel, but then that responsibility of fixing our lives ultimately falls before us and implementing those things that God has lovingly given us to address all matters of faith and life. And so a pastor who thinks that he can do that work for his flock will often find himself run ragged, worn out, exhausted. and totally spent, because it's not by design. That's not how God has created us. It's not what God demands of us. So, a pastor has to watch that, and that's where a session has to guard their pastor, that he would not run himself ragged in that way, trying to do things that are beyond his capability to do. And then sixth, the shepherd of God understands his place as an under-shepherd of Christ. We're not congregationalists and we don't have the same mechanisms in place that often lead to a pastor being elevated to such a high role that they become the identity of the church. The pastor is a servant of Christ. He derives his value in the same way you and I do, as being a possession of Christ. He understands that he's been entrusted with a task. They're not his sheep, they're Christ's sheep. And if he meditates on that, if he recalls that each and every day, that these are the men and women and children of God, then it is more likely that he will give the energies God affords him for their care, for their feeding, for their protection out of a love for Christ. that Christ would be glorified, that his people and his kingdom would grow and mature. So those duties feeding, leading, tending, protecting, caring and understanding our place typify those of pastors. Now, our duties as sheep. As I mentioned earlier, it was a bit frustrating for my brother and I when we would go out and try to call in the sheep and they wouldn't respond. You know, we had, I can remember one particular ewe that we had that as soon as you let her out into the pasture, she went to the farthest corner over the bit of a hill just so she could be sure she couldn't see or hear. And that's where we'd find her, you know, late at night as we had to walk all the way across those many acres to bring in the sheep. Sheep of God, listen. For the voice of the shepherd that God gives you. Be attentive to him. And come running when he calls. Don't make his job difficult. By running away from him or ignoring the word of God that Christ has been pleased to allow to be opened before you listen. Learn and be teachable. This is not a social exercise that we gather here every Lord's Day or that we attend weekly Bible studies or that we gather for prayer. These are opportunities that should yield within us growth in our understanding and knowledge of God. Growth in our understanding of his expectations of us. And we need to ensure when we come together that we come with a teachable frame of mind. Desiring to know our great shepherd better. And to be teachable means you also need to be available. Afford yourself those opportunities that that are before you, whether it be small groups, whether it be Bible studies, whether it be discipleship groups, the worship of God, especially be available. You know, your new pastor may come in with new ideas. new programs, new, another vision for seeing you grow in your understanding of God's word. And so now is a perfect time to begin looking over our schedules, looking over our list of priorities and ensuring that we've got our priorities in sync. Will we be available when that next pastor comes and wants to minister among us. Will we avail ourselves of those opportunities? Be part of the flock. Don't stray. Yearn for these times to be together, to be encouraged as you hear testimony of how God is at work in your neighbor in the few. But you have to be part of the flock to enjoy those benefits, so don't stray. but be part of a flock. And then third, in case there's any confusion, a pastor is not a mind reader. So our duty as sheep is to communicate with our shepherd. We don't want to be guilty of complaining that a pastor didn't visit us in the hospital when we didn't afford them the heads up that we were going in for surgery. or that we have befallen a loss in the family. Our pastor may know many things, but the inner workings of our personal lives, unless we are good communicators, he won't know. So as sheep, we need to be in close proximity with our pastor. Our home should be open such that we're inviting our pastor and his family as much as they're inviting us into their home. that they may see us in our own element, that they may know us, that we may know them. I'm sure Kim would enjoy those kind of invitations more often just because it affords them the opportunity to rest and enjoy the fellowship as opposed to crafting those times themselves. So those are three duties of sheep. And six duties of a shepherd, are there questions or other comments that folks would like to make? Yes, Dave. How do you evaluate? Well, I think there are a number of ways you can ask the question now, it'll be harder to ask such a question of somebody coming right out of seminary. Because they won't necessarily have perhaps the luxury of having grown up on a farm with 300 sheep to draw upon. But what you're trying to identify is does that candidate have a love of Christ such that they will take seriously this awesome responsibility of shepherding his flock? Ask questions that would bring out from them their passion and yearning for caring for God's people. I mean, shepherds love their sheep. They love sheep. And so, as you have opportunities to interview candidates, whether they be seminarians or whether they be 30-year veterans of ministry, you can ask questions of them related to what would their practice be to get to know the sheep? How important is it to be around the sheep? Those kinds of things will draw out from them that philosophy of ministry that they have been thinking about or that they have had in practice for years. And it won't take long to see whether they have an interest in people, the people of God, or not. Now, in the case of a seminarian, understand as sheep that There will be some ways in which we'll be helping them to develop those things. And again, this is where my comments to be available and to be communicative with a pastor is helpful, because the first year, two, three, ten of pastoral ministry is a pretty steep learning curve. I mean, I've had the benefit of being on the session since 1998. And it's probably only been the last two or three years that I have begun to see enough things that I can begin to see some similarities. It takes a long time. So that can be helped by communicating with them and being available to them. I don't know if that gets to your question, but yes, Jack. Are they so desirous of being close to the flock that they would have the flock within their home? Now, my grandfather often didn't have anything yet into the home but orphan lambs. But still, are they so desirous of that proximity that they are opening up their home so that you might be at ease and rested and able to really open up and talk without the distractions that you find at home. So yeah, hospitality is a great way of seeing it. So you can ask them, you know, what is your practice of hospitality or how do you practice hospitality as ways to indicate whether or not it's a completely foreign concept to them or not. Yes, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. And another thing that I would encourage would be when we sent out the email with the list of candidates that had links to their sermon audio page, if you didn't get an email, but you have access to Internet, go to sermon audio. You can look up any of their names on sermon audio, and that can also give you some valuable insights as well. How do they handle these shepherding matters from the pulpit? You know, last week when Tim was speaking with us, he was he was laying a great deal of importance on the preaching of the word as the most effective means of counseling. Because you can do in one hour, what would take you 99 or 100 hours of individual counseling to accomplish. And the realities of the situation of the flock is if there's one sheep sick, typically there are several sheep that are sick with the same thing or that are in need. And so by utilizing and being aware of the congregation through hospitality, through visitation, through the communication of the sheep with the shepherd, many of those issues can be dealt with from the pulpit. And it's preventative medicine for those that aren't. sick, and it is ministering to those real needs that affect each and every one of us as we are here each Lord's Day. Yeah, so I can't encourage you enough. That's a wonderful technological luxury that we have today. Get to know your candidates. Listen to more than just the sermon you're going to hear here. I think it will go a long way to helping you to identify their pastoral and shepherding spirit. Because oftentimes these folks are preaching in a similar location week after week now sometimes seminarians move around a bit But some of our seminarians have been blessed to be able to preach series is like Stephen has here such that you can begin to see as We were hearing when Stephen was preaching before us He was addressing needs that he was witnessing here as he was getting to know you so Listen to those sermons and that will give you a lot of insights. Any other questions? Yes. Let's see. The third one is the process of calling a pastor. How does our blue book lay that out? What steps do we take and how do we go about it? And then the fourth, I believe, is more of a Q&A where we'll come back and we'll rehash the various topics, make sure that it hasn't stirred some new questions in your mind that way. Mm hmm. Right. They do the work of evangelism, certainly. And I think that there we went through a period of our history where there was almost an expectation that only the pastor did evangelism, and we certainly don't want that. What we would prefer to see is the pastor adequately, by God's grace, building up and equipping the congregation such that each and every member of the congregation is engaged and engaging their neighbors with the gospel that they understand and love so well. A pastor will more likely than not see his ministry years as a success if that's occurring as opposed to whether he himself is doing and resulting in inviting all the people to the church. So evangelism certainly. I think we also need to be cautious as a congregation that we don't assume because he's the one paid individual of the congregation, he gets all of the jobs. Because we don't want to hinder the important jobs that we've laid out today, those that God has given him, Christ has given him to feed the flock. There are so many things that can fall upon the plate of the pastor that are. That any one of us is capable to do, and so I think as a congregation is as we would see another man come in, this is an opportunity for us to examine all those things that that Bruce has so willingly done and whether or not those necessarily needed to be in his list of duties. How many of those things can we come alongside and do ourselves? Our mission teams often are confronted with this when they go on on the mission trips and and for a few weeks they give the pastor who may have been responsible for putting together the bulletin every week the benefit of a vacation from that duty, which they then understand is something they could be volunteering to do themselves when they get back home. But there are lots of duties like that. Maybe it's changing the front sign. You know, Bruce doesn't need to or the pastor doesn't need to do all of those things. We want to make sure that he does all of those things that God commends to him well and that we don't do anything that would take him away from those responsibilities or hinder him from doing those responsibilities well. I think that we need to come up with a list of things that we're going to look through Yeah, I think... Yeah, that was one of the reasons why I included all of those passages there. I think you'll find those helpful passages, even passages like Ezekiel 34. provide, I think, some very valuable insights. It's a wonderful warning to pastors. You know, if we neglect our duty, there is one shepherd who will not neglect his sheep. Christ will not neglect his sheep, but he does demand that shepherds do what shepherds are called to do. And so Ezekiel 34 can be a good one as far as understanding the seriousness with which Christ takes this role. Titus 2.1, that he teaches sound doctrine. And again, this is where listening to those sermons can be helpful. You get a chance to see, is it sound? Is this a week after week soundness that he demonstrates? We do live in an age where I think it's human wisdom's tendency to want to formulate a strategy God has. His word is sufficient in these matters, and if you think about a congregation where the flock is well fed and tended to and cared for and protected. The natural result we should expect would be God's continued addition of blessing to that congregation such that the rest of the watching world would be desirous as well. I mean, a flock that is so cared for is experiencing a measure of peace that is not to be found outside of the Church of Christ. So that's something that really the world needs to see displayed. And so we want to make sure we guard our pastor such that he can shepherd well, that he enjoys his work. And being an elder, it's an enjoyable work. We love it when the people of God keep us informed and avail themselves of us and heed counsel and yearn to grow and to hear God's Word read and preached and taught. That makes the job fun. So we want to make sure that we can, to the best of our abilities, make this an enjoyable charge for the next pastor that God is preparing for us. Well, I've managed to keep you as long as Dave would, so let me close this in prayer. Just before we do, there are five or six books up here at the front. They are the books that are listed at the bottom of your page. I highly recommend those to you if you would like to read more about the work of a pastor. They're all very, very good. This one. The Christian Pastors Manual is hard to get a physical copy. They're almost impossible to find, but Google Books has it downloadable for free. And it's one that I've been taking Stephen McCollum through and one that Steve Miller had pointed out to me. The Work of the Pastors, a nice little book by William Still. It's still in print. Easy to find. Richard Baxter's Reform Pastors, another good one. Ed Robeson's Dear Young Pastors, a very practical work that you can clearly see a shepherd's heart in the writing of Dear Young Shepherds. So if you want to read one of our own on this topic, Ed's book would be very good and Crown and Covenant carries it as well. So, all right, let me close in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this opportunity to gather together as your people to hear your word read and preached today. We thank you for providing us regularly with and under shepherd to care and guide and protect us and to tend to our wounds. Lord, we pray now that you would give wisdom to this congregation as we in the next few weeks would hear two more candidates as we would have opportunity to fellowship with them, to see their gifts demonstrated, to ask questions of them that might draw from them a better understanding of their particular gift and vision for ministry. Lord, we pray that you would give us the faithfulness and discipline to avail ourselves of the many resources that are before us both to read and to listen to that may help us to know these candidates better. If these would be the candidates that if from them would be the candidates that you are preparing to lead us into the next chapter of this church's life. Go with us now, we pray. Give us a good day's rest that we might gather again with the saints this evening to praise your most deserving name. We pray these things in your son's name, Jesus Christ. Amen.