INTRODUCTION (Verse 1):
1. “…who am also an elder…”
a. Not: Pope, Denominational Head, President of Convention, etc.
b. “I know what you’re going through; I’ve been there!”
2. “…and a witness of the sufferings of Christ…”
a. Peter spent 3 ½ years with Christ.
b. One of the three “favorites”.
3. “…a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed…”
a. He was saved!
b. He was ready to go to Heaven!!
BODY:
1. FEED THE FLOCK—2
a. “Taking the oversight thereof”—You are God’s man for that place.
b. “Not by constraint, but willingly”
i. “Constraint”=Necessity—“God called me here so I’ll just ‘suffer for Jesus’.”
ii. “Willingly”=Volunteer—1 Timothy 3:1-“Desire”
c. “Not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind”
i. “Filthy lucre”=great gain
d. “Ready mind”=Renewed Mind—Romans 12:1
e. Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
f. God has given you and I an awesome responsibility. We need to make sure that we get with God to give our people what they need.
2. SERVE THE SHEEP—3
a. “Neither as being lords…”—God put you there. You’re nothing without the grace of God.
b. “Ensample”=”The impression left as the result of a blow.
c. Don’t ever think you’re better than the people that God has given you to serve! You are there to serve them.
3. REAP THE REWARD—4
a. If you are a faithful shepherd:
i. You’ll be stalked by the prowler-5:8
ii. You’ll be stomped by your parishioners.
iii. You’ll be snubbed by your peers.
iv. You’ll be scorned by the people.
b. But GOD is watching you!
i. He’s keeping an accurate record of what you do.
ii. He has a special limited-edition award—only for faithful Pastors.
CONCLUSION;
Hey Preacher! Are you discouraged? Think your people don’t appreciate you? Are you constantly being “beaten up” by the Devil? Hold your head up high and be the God-called, Spirit-filled Preacher that God wants you to be!
