INTRODUCTION
SLIDE #1
When you think about people you would like to see as a possible Elder and Deacon candidates in this church, what exactly are these men supposed to do?
Are church leaders supposed to run a church like a corporation? Do they sit in the ivory tower and rule on high?
Are the leaders called to be board members or is there something more. Are the leaders a group of men how sit in a room and vote for things or is there something more to being a church leader.
Last week we looked at what kind of qualities a leader in God’s church should possess, today we are going to look at the various ministries a leader in the church is called to do.
If the church will rise and fall with its leadership, it is important that not only the leadership knows what it is called to do, but the church also has an understanding of the calling of the leadership of God’s church.
Being a leader in God’s church is a tough job. It takes a lot of time, you are subject to a lot of criticism and you are called to deal with many uncomfortable situations.
You are trying to motivate and depend on people who are not drawing a pay check, but are volunteering to serve.
Leaders in God’s church are responsible for what goes on in God’s church. The leaders have to make financial decisions; they have to have a vision for the future as well as being willing to take people out of their comfort zones at times.
The focus of this message will deal with the various ministries an Elder in the church should be focused on.
As far as deacons are concerned, their position is one of a servant. The word means servant. They are not leaders in the same sense as an Elder; they are the ones who are called to deal with the physical needs of the church and the church body. The deacons do not have the responsibilities or the same authority the Elders have.
Let us look at four important ministries of an Elder in God’s church!
SLIDE #2
SERMON
I. SELF-DEFENSE MINISTRY (ACTS 20:28)
When the Apostle Paul called the elders from the church at Ephesus to come meet with him in Miletus, he shared some things they needed to here.
SLIDE #3
In verse 28 of Acts 20 Paul tells the Elders the following: "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
One of the important ministries of an elder in God’s church is the ministry of self-defense.
I am not talking about getting your black-belt in karate or some other martial arts, but instead we are speaking of protecting yourself spiritually.
Paul encourages the elders to be on guard for themselves.
To guard means to attend to, to be cautious, and to keep watch.
Gareth Reese in his commentary on the book of Acts states: Elders are to be cautious, to give attention first of all to their own life and faith. Any leader has temptations peculiar to his position, and connected duties to his office. The faithful ministry of any elder must grow out of a faithful life. Hence the first concern must be to establish their own faith. (Gareth Reese, Acts Commentary, page 750, College Press Publishing, 1976)
Effective ministry is not mere outward activity; it is the overflow of a rich, deep relationship with God. (John MacArthur Jr. Acts Commentary)
We all, but especially leaders in God’s church need to give special attention to their faith. We all have weaknesses. If we let them go unprotected, it will cause is trouble in the long run. We have to do everything we can to protect ourselves from the traps Satan lays out for the leaders in God’s church.
Guarding ourselves is to be an active guarding, we are not to wait until we are attacked, we are to look for the enemy to come and stop him before he gets into our lives.
The way we can defend and protect ourselves is by reading God’s Word. We need to make sure we are accountable to one another; we need to make sure we are not afraid to share some of our struggles with sin with others we trust so that we can receive encouragement to be able to overcome what temps us.
We can protect ourselves with prayer. Have you ever been tempted and in the midst of the temptation, just called out for Satan to leave you alone? There is power in prayer.
The devil only gets ground we give to him!
What steps are we taking to guard ourselves from the attacks of the devil?
If our church leaders are falling prey to the snares of the devil, it will have a negative affect on the work they are called to do. Do everything you can do to make sure the devil cannot get a foothold into your life.
Keep the doors of sin closed, do not even crack the door open lest the devil put a foot in the door.
We all need to get a black-belt in spiritual self-defense.
SLIDE #4
II. PRAYER MINISTRY (ACTS 6:4)
In Acts 6, the church was only three to four years old. The church would have consisted of maybe upwards of 20,000 people in and around Jerusalem. The Apostles were still in Jerusalem at this time. It seems like the Apostles may have acted as the leadership if the church in its early stage.
There was a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews concerning a perceived neglect of the care of their widows.
During this time there were two classes of Jews. The Hellenistic Jews were Jews who were born of Jewish parentage outside of Palestine and who they spoke Greek as their predominate language. The Hebrews were Jews born in Palestine and predominately spoke Hebrew.
It appears the church leaders (or the apostles at this point) were getting bogged down in with taking care of the physical needs of the church.
The leadership was struggling with doing keeping up with the spiritual.
SLIDE #5
Acts 6:4 (NASB) 4“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
In Acts 6:1-4 we read: READ ACTS 6:1-4
The leaders were neglecting the Word of God and prayer because they were too busy doing other things that were important, but given their position, not as important as prayer and the Word of God.
The leaders had the church appoint men to be servants (or deacons) to take care of the physical needs of the church so they could devote themselves to prayer.
Prayer is so important. Prayer was important to Jesus. A prayerless leader will not be a good leader in God’s Church. A leader needs to be devoted to the ministry of prayer.
What ever Jesus did, He prayed about it.
Given the task and responsibilities a leader has in God’s Church, you want him to rely on prayer.
Prayer should be evident in the lives of those who are leading our church.
If we try to do things on our own without prayer, we will fail.
Everything we do MUST be bathed in prayer. The leadership of a church has to make many decisions that will affect the spiritual lives of many people. They make decisions that affect the ministry of this church; you want them to pray about it.
A person devoted to prayer is not afraid to be bold and confident before God.
John Bunyan said, He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.
SLIDE #6
III. MINISTRY OF THE WORD (ACTS 6:4)
In Acts 6 the Apostles regretted they were neglecting the Word of God. They were going to devote themselves to the ministry of the Word.
In 1 Timothy 3:2 we are told an Elder is to be able to teach. You cannot teach without knowing what you are going to teach about. When you do not know the word of God, you may be able to get through a class, but you will not understand what you taught.
I could possibly get through teaching an advanced math class with enough help and VERY few questions from the class, but since I do not know and understand Calculus, I would not know what I taught.
Leaders in a Church are to be in tuned with God. They do not have to master the scriptures like a PHD would, but they need to know enough so they can teach another about Jesus and have an understanding of the principles contained with in it.
The more of the word of God you know, the more of it you let penetrate your heart, the more you will grow and mature.
We are not called to just know the facts; we are called to know the word of God in an intimate way; the way a husband and wife know each other.
It is hard to make spiritually based decisions if we do not know God’s Word.
SLIDE #7
1 Corinthians 1:21 (NASB) For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
Sometimes spiritual decisions will not make sense to the world. It takes a depth of knowledge and relationship with God to see this.
A prayerless leadership with no grasp of God’s Word will not be able to lead God’s church in effective ministry.
SLIDE #8
IV. SHEPHERDING MINISTRY (ACTS 20:28, 1 PETER 5:2)
• Let us look us look at 1 Peter 5:1-3
• SLIDE #9
• 1 Peter 5:1 - 3 (NASB) 1Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
In Acts 20:28 Paul encourages the Ephesian Elders to shepherd the flock. 1 Peter 5:2 tells the elders to shepherd the flock of God.
Elders are not men who just come to a “board” meeting to take care of “church business.”
Taking care of business is part of what they do, but they are called to shepherd the church.
A shepherd does many things for sheep.
The shepherd takes the sheep to food and water. The shepherd protects the sheep from danger, cares for the sheep when they are injured. The shepherd looks for the lost sheep. The shepherd knows his sheep because a shepherd spends a great deal of time with the sheep.
1 Peter 5:2-3 speaks to the manner of shepherding the church.
You cannot drive sheep like a cowboy drives cattle, you must lead them. A leader in God’s church is one who leads the church, not one who drives the sheep.
In John 10 Jesus exposes a distorted view of leadership, that of a hired hand.
A hired hand is just there for the check. When things get tough, they turn and run. In Jesus day shepherding was not a part time affair or one for a person with not heart for it. The shepherd smelled like the sheep because they were so involved with them.
Some want to take care of the church from a Sheriff model. They are there to throw their authority around, they are the type that will say it’s my way or the highway.
In his book, “They Smell Like Sheep”, author Dr. Lynn Anderson states: “A church leader who has to ASSERT his authority doesn’t have much.” (p33)
Some will try to lead the church from the corporate CEO model. They try to rule on high, distant from the flock.
In Hebrews 13:20 Jesus is called our great shepherd!
Leaders in God church need to have a deep love for the church they are leading. They need to be involved with the sheep. They are called to lead the church not drive it.
A church needs leaders who are visionary leaders, who can catch a vision of what God wants for His church, not leaders who fight to the death to keep the status quo.
Helen Keller once said, “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but no vision.
Churches need men who leas out of conviction and with an eye toward the future. Most people see challenges and say “Why”, visionary leaders say “Why not.”
Where would we be today of the leadership of the time did not have a vision to put up this building.
Visionary leaders realize we serve a BIG God and are not afraid to ask big things of Him!
Our leadership has a vision for the future of this church. We are blessed!
CONCLUSION
The work of a leader never ends, but being a leader in God’s church is a privilege and an honor. It is a job that takes a lot of work and a lot of prayer.
We are called to submit and obey our leaders, they have a huge responsibility on their shoulders.
SLIDE #10
HEB 13:17 Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
The leader in God’s church has many areas of responsibility. Let us encourage and pray for our leadership.
We have been so blessed in this church with Godly men who have been willing to lead.
Next week we will begin with the first of two messages will deal with Worship. I am excited to share them with you.
