Wayfaring Strangers A Study Of 1peter Part 19" The Heart Of A Shepherd" Series

Wayfaring Strangers

A study of 1 Peter

Part 19

“The heart of a shepherd”

It seems like months since we last looked at the great book of 1 Peter

As many of you know we are preaching though this book

Verse by verse

Learning to apply Peter’s words to our hearts bit by bit

I need to remind you this book is all about suffering and encouragement

Suffering and encouragement

Suffering and encouragement

And while at first glance today’s passage mat seem out of place

But indeed

Peter in humility

Reminds us

That we are to act

Talk

And live in a certain way

In the midst of the suffering

Today’s passage deals 3 groups of people

Church leaders

Specifically, Elders

But I know that anyone who serves in any type of leadership role can benefit from this teaching

Weather it is a Pastor- Elder- Lay pastor- team leader- team member

Or as the leader of your own household

The principals laid out here are solid

And if followed will make you a better leader

The next group is the younger

This could be interpreted as younger in age

Or younger in spiritual growth

And I believe both apply in this passage

We all fall into this group as well

It is the very rare person indeed that has no

Spiritual elders

Or elders in actual age

So, Peters words here apply to all of us as well

The last group

Is the church in general

Or all believers

Let me read 1 Peter 5:1-5 for you then we will come back

Break it down and apply it to our lives

1 Peter 5:1-5

And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: 2 Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 4 And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for

“God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble.”

In order to set the stage for today’s teaching we need to turn back to curtain of time in the life of Peter

Let me remind you

Peter was a fisherman right up until Jesus said

Come and follow me

He dropped his nets

And follow he did

But

He made lots of mistakes along the path of his growth

And those mistakes are what helped grow him into the man who wrote today’s passage

Remember Peter’s pride

If everyone else leaves you I won’t he claimed

And then did just that

Remember his ready shoot aim attitude

Jumping out of the boat, twice

Asking God to call fire from heaven to destroy the ones who would not believe

Cutting off the ear of a slave

Rebuking Jesus for talking about what must happen

I have no doubt the thought of his denial haunted him

And as he remembered Jesus looking at him as the rooster crowed

He must have cried a million tears

But it is not just Peters failures that shaped him into the man he became

It was also his victories

He allowed himself

In spite of his flaws to be molded into

The Apostle Peter

The Rock Jesus called him

One of the founders of the early church

One of Jesus’ most trusted

But I believe as Peter wrote the words to this part of his book

Neither his failures or his victories were on his mind

I believe Jesus

And his example as a servant were what Peter was thinking about

And I believe

The job he was given by Jesus himself on the shore of the sea of Galilee

Was the focus of his thoughts?

Let’s look first at Jesus’s

Model for us as a shepherd as a leader

John chapter 13:1-17

13 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.[a] 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas,[b] son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.