Well, last time we looked at the closing verses of 1 Peter chapter 4. For those of you who are newly here, we're going consecutively through this wonderful letter written by the Apostle Peter.
We're almost at the end of it. We're now into the last chapter, chapter 5 this morning, so if you have your Bibles, I hope you have, turn there with me to 1 Peter chapter 5. And Peter is teaching us how to respond biblically to suffering.
We're in a suffering world. He's reminded us that our Lord Jesus Himself suffered, and that we who are His authentic followers of Jesus Christ are not to be surprised when we go through that fiery trial, when we find ourselves in the Refiner's furnace. We are not to exalt ourselves, to promote ourselves, but rather to serve one another. We are to encourage one another as followers of Christ. We're to bear one another's burdens and pray for one another. And while all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ are to do this, God in His sovereign purposes provides within the church of Jesus Christ, within each local assembly of believers, He provides a group which have a particular responsibility to care for others. They are our spiritual shepherds. And that's what we're going to learn about today. We're going to learn the importance of faithful shepherds in the church of Jesus Christ. What are their responsibilities?
What should we expect from them? This is our subject, faithful shepherds. Read with me in 1 Peter 5 then as we'll read the first four verses. It is 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. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly.
Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Peter, as he comes towards the end of this epistle, writing to these believers who are scattered throughout the Roman Empire because of the persecution, he is writing in these verses to shepherds. He himself is a shepherd and he's making an appeal to shepherds. Notice how he first describes himself as a fellow elder. As he began his letter, he described himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, but here he's not using his apostolic authority as it were, but is humbly placing himself on the same level as these other elders.
That's wonderful. Think of Peter, he was the leader of the twelve. Think of all that he accomplished as you read the book of Acts, but here he describes himself as a fellow elder. Can I just pause there and say that there are to be no celebrities in the church of Jesus Christ. Peter doesn't come over, as it were, of speaking down to them, but says, no, I'm a fellow elder with you. In the church, there is one, only one celebrity. I hate the word celebrity, but that is King Jesus.
Do you really want to compete with him? Do you really think the church is about you? Is there any of us who are going to be so proud to exalt ourselves? Peter's going to tell us, as we'll see next week, about humility. How key it is that all of us, and I would say particularly those of us who are in leadership, to be humble. Peter knows the joys and challenges of being a spiritual shepherd. You remember at the end of John's Gospel, John chapter 21, our Lord, raised from the dead, comes near to Peter and tells him to feed my sheep, to tend my lambs. He'd received that injunction from the Lord himself, and now, as a fellow shepherd, as a fellow elder, he's saying to these men whom God has appointed in these churches to shepherd my flock.
So first, he describes himself as a fellow elder. Secondly, he says he is a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Peter was an eyewitness to some of Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. He saw the Lord suffering there with that sweat, as it were, like blood.
Yes, he observed certainly from afar at the trial. He also personally experienced Christ's suffering in the sense that he also suffered as he followed his Savior. And church history tells us he's going to be martyred, he's going to be put to death for his faith. He knows about the sufferings of Christ. And then he says, and this is wonderful, isn't it, he says, a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. This concept of suffering followed by glory is repeated several times in Peter's letter here. Peter is confident of the revelation of the glory of the Messiah. And although he understands the fullness of that glory is yet future, he has a foretaste of it. In chapter 1, he talks about rejoicing with joy inexpressible and full of glory. And now he says to the faithful shepherds, he, and undoubtedly himself, is going to receive the crown of glory.
It's a good reminder, isn't it, when we suffer that it's going to come to an end, and we're going to enter into endless glory. So here he is, an elder, and he's writing to elders in the New Testament the biblical form of church government, governance, is ruled by a plurality of elders. Not one person, however gifted, however able, however charismatic, not one person, but a group, a plurality of elders. We see that, for example, in Acts chapter 20, Paul is at Miletus and he's about to leave.
And what does he do? Acts 20 verse 17, now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders, plural, elders of the church to come to him. He's going to speak to the shepherds, not just a shepherd, but the elders of the church. Verse 28, well verse 27 says, I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
He was a bold apostle, was Paul. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, plural, to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood. And the New Testament sets out the qualifications for the elder, for the man of God.
These are given in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1, recognizing that not all of the elders, not all of the shepherds in the church have the same gifts, but they are to share the joys, the sorrows, the burdens and privileges and responsibilities of shepherding. So, he writes to elders and now he's going to give this exhortation. He himself is a shepherd and he's going to exhort the shepherds. Notice what he says, verse 2, shepherd the flock of God that is among you.
Isn't it wonderful what God does? Here is Peter, a man who denied the Lord not once or twice, but three times he denied the Lord. Yet, out of the ashes of his defeat and denial, our Lord graciously recommissions Peter to be a shepherd, to feed the flock, to tend the lambs. And now Peter, a much wiser man with all of the experiences that he had as he's writing to these believers, and now particularly to the shepherds in these various churches, he's encouraging the shepherds to do what? Verse 2, to shepherd the flock of God that is among you. This term shepherd gives a beautiful description of the work of the pastor. We just sang the hymn which is based on the most famous of all of the Psalms, Psalm 23, where David himself is shepherd, not just a shepherd of sheep, but a shepherd of people. He writes, the Lord is my shepherd.
Not wonderful to know, but this great almighty God is our shepherd. What a beautiful picture, and now the good shepherd is delegating some of his authority in a local church to a group of men called shepherds, called elders, called pastors. What does a shepherd do? A shepherd leads, feeds, cares for, and protects the sheep. And fundamentally, the shepherd, certainly the good shepherd, not the hireling, but the good shepherd knows the sheep. You look at a flock of sheep and they all look alike, don't they? Not to the shepherd.
Recently, Gooden and I were at Biltmore for an event, and as Gooden was having lunch with some of her friends, I was isolated and I was wandering around Biltmore. And I came across this field and there was a flock of goats, not sheep, but goats. I know more about sheep than goats, but I stopped, looked at these goats, smelly creatures they were, and a young woman came and started feeding them and got in a conversation with her, and she said she worked there and she was feeding the goats. And as she was doing this, I thought, this young woman really cares for these goats. I mean, she wants to connect with a goat. And I said to her, you seem to know these goats. She said, oh yeah, she said, I raised them.
And she started referring to them by name. I thought, who wants to name a goat? And I thought, well, you name your cat, you name your dog, you may give a name to your goldfish.
I mean, what about a goat? Remember what the Lord Jesus says in John 10 when He says He's a good shepherd? He says, the good shepherd calls his sheep by name, and the sheep know his voice.
That's an incredible thought, isn't it? Not one of us here could tell the names of everyone here. But think of the good shepherd.
He looks down and he knows you by name. We forget people's names. We sometimes don't particularly want to know someone's name, but not the good shepherd. And the shepherd, the good shepherd in the church of Jesus Christ knows the sheep. Peter says, shepherd the flock of God that is among you. I've known over the years, I've known elders and pastors who don't like people.
That's amazing. They don't like the smell of sheep. I mean, sheep can be nasty, sheep can bite, as some of us know.
But if you don't like sheep, don't be a shepherd. Over the years, I've interviewed a lot of young men who want to go into the pastorate, applying for a position. And I sometimes ask them, where do you see yourself in five years from now?
Here's a young man, perhaps applying to be a youth pastor. And they pause and say, well, I'd like to write a book. And I think, oh no, not another book that no one else is going to read. Everyone wants to write a book. OK, you're going to write a book.
You're going to write a book. What else? Well, I see myself at conferences telling other people how to do ministry. Oh, OK. You're at the center, obviously.
Anything else? Very rarely, sadly, do they say, I want a shepherd. I want to care for people. Some people in leadership, some pastors only want to preach. They want to teach.
They want to be center stage. I say to them, don't call yourself a pastor. Say you're a Bible teacher. Say you're a communicator.
Say you're a professor. But a pastor in the spiritual sense is among the sheep, knows the people, knows the flock. Elders, pastors, deacons, let me say to you, if you are in that position at Calvary Church, you need to know the flock. You say, well, I can't know everyone. I know that, but you can know some.
Know them by name. Know where they are spiritually, learning to love them. And here is Peter, a shepherd. He's encouraging the overseers. He says here, shepherd, the flock of God is among you, exercising oversight. Elders exercise oversight as they look out for all the flock of God. Notice that. The wise shepherd, the good shepherd keeps an eye on the whole flock, seeing the big picture, caring for all of the sheep, not cultivating a little group of groupies, as it were, with themselves as a kind of guru.
I've seen that over the years. Someone in leadership, and they cultivate a little group, almost of, yes, men and women, exalting themselves. It reminds me, remember King David? He had some not very good sons.
One of them, Absalom, Samuel tells us that Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. He worked against the king. He wanted to be king. He wanted that crown, and so he stole the hearts of Israel against the will of God. There was another king of David, Abijah. He says, I will be king. David is dying. He's coming to the end of his life, and here's another man wanting to exalt himself.
Do you think that happens in the church? You know what happened in Corinth? What was the problem in Corinth, division? Oh, I like Paul. I like Peter.
Oh, I like Apollos, he is so eloquent. And so, they were divided. Do you know what Paul says? That that's a characteristic of immaturity.
What was the problem? They were man-centered rather than God-centered. The faithful shepherd points people not to themselves, but points people to the Lord Jesus Christ, to King Jesus, but in our flesh, in our pride. There's a tendency for all of us, yes, including spiritual shepherds to put themselves first.
Not a new problem. You may recall in the gospels, they were on their way to Jerusalem, and Mark records that on the way, the disciples were arguing. And so, Jesus asked them and says, what were you talking about on the way? And they kept silent.
Do you know why? Because they were arguing about this, who is the greatest? Who is number one? That's not a good shepherd, is it? The good shepherd, Peter says, cares for the whole flock of God. We must always remember, those of us who are in leadership, that our flock belongs not to us, but to our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how is this shepherding done? Peter gives us great insights in verses two and three.
How were we to do that? And he deals with some of the dangers. Three great dangers as we shepherd, laziness, materialism, and a thirst for power, a thirst for control. And he's going to eliminate all of these as he describes the manner we are to shepherd. First of all, he says, verse two, to the elders, shepherd not under compulsion, but willingly. Verse two, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you. The spiritual shepherd isn't a conscript that someone's twisted his arm, someone has put some guilt on this person to serve. No, the shepherd isn't a servant of a false sense of duty. Paul tells Timothy that the elder is to have a desire for the work. The spiritual shepherd is to be called by God. We read the Scripture in Acts 20 where Paul says, it's the Holy Spirit that raises up shepherds.
I hope I'm here, not because I feel Charlotte's a nice place to live, which it is. I'm here because God called me. The shepherd is called by God.
There is a willingness. Our Lord Jesus, instead of him, he delighted to do the will of God. He came not to be served, but to serve. This is the spiritual example elders are to follow. Now these first century elders didn't have it easy. Think of the suffering. And if you know anything about the persecuted church, you know that the authorities and the devil target the leaders.
They're on the front line. And if you know the heartache of pastoring or eldering, there may be a hesitation to serve. That might question, that may mean some person, some men may question whether or not they should serve. And as shepherds serve the church, there is heartache, there's stress, there's discouragement. Among pastors, there's a very high rate of dropout.
That was particularly during COVID, I forget the numbers. But a lot of those in pastoral ministry gave up and went in to some other occupation. I would have to ask them, but didn't you, weren't you called by God? Does the spiritual shepherd run away when the wild animals come to attack the sheep? Is it a mark of the shepherd that in the face of danger, he retreats?
Surely not. Yes, elders and pastors are sometimes criticized. Stuart Briscoe says that the qualifications of a pastor are as follows, the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. That's good. Here's some comments from the congregation to the preacher that I've heard over the years. I don't care what they say about you, I like your preaching.
Thank you very much. If I'd known you were going to be good today, I'd have brought my neighbor. I get a phone call, someone says, are you preaching on Sunday, John?
Yes, I am. Well, you know, I've got my brother coming from our town and I was thinking of bringing him and just wondering, you know, they're asking, make it a good message. I think, okay, I'll try. But just trust God that he'll give the message that your brother or neighbor needs.
Do you know that there are 182 panes of glass in the windows? Something to do during a boring message. I love coming to church, sitting on a comfortable seat and not having to think. Yeah, that applies to some of you.
You're settling down, you're half asleep in a minute. Do you ever think of getting a real job? Yeah, frequently. Every Sunday morning I think of that. Do you know that you put your hands in your pocket 17 times a day? Yeah, yeah, I do. I just love it.
I was brought up to put my hands in my pocket, sorry if I avenge you. It must be great only to work on Sundays. It is. It's absolutely brilliant. An hour a week, it is fantastic.
I recommend it for all of you. And here's one that I got, I don't know, two or three years ago. Do you know that your tie doesn't match your suit? Think really? You're the height of fashion, are you?
Did you look in the mirror today? I wouldn't say that because that would be repaying evil for evil, and I would never say something like that. Yes, it's difficult in all seriousness, it's difficult to be in leadership. And if you know that, even in the secular world, leader of an organization, certainly the leader of a church, I can tell you it is very, very difficult. And therefore, I can understand some people hesitating, but the true shepherd must serve willingly. His love for the Lord, his love for the Word of God, his love of shepherding should be his motivation.
And the great example is our Lord Jesus Christ, in all of His suffering, He said, I came to do the will of the Father. And elders must serve with enthusiasm. Peter says, willingly, not lazy, not watching the clock more than the flock, they are to serve, not under compulsion, not out of a sense of duty, but willingly as an act of service to the Lord through the difficulties. Secondly, so first, shepherd not under compulsion but willingly. Second, shepherd not for shameful gain, but eagerly.
Again verse 2. Shepherd the flock of God is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion but willingly as God would have you. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Shameful gain would mean pastoring, serving, out of a desire for money, out of a desire to have an easy life rather than serving because you're called by God serving, not because of your love for God or your love for the sheep, but the love of an easy life. Now, it's not wrong for pastors to be paid. The laborer is worthy of his hire, that is true.
But where the individual in leadership is primarily concerned with compensation, with benefits, with pensions, allowances, and vacations, and all of that, that is a disqualification. The individual is serving for shameful gain rather than eagerly. I remember in our last church, Tim and I were interviewing an individual. I forget what the position was, but we took him out for lunch.
And we talked a bit, and I thought, I don't think this is the person for us. But Tim and I asked a few questions, and I said to him then, do you have any questions? And he said, yes, when's my day off? I felt like saying today, that's it, your day off now. Just go, brother, your day off. No, that's not the spirit of the shepherd, is it? Does he get a day off? Yes. Only work on Sundays after all, you get six days off. What more do you want?
My day off. No, material gain, comfort, and easy life should not be the motivation for shepherding. If you have any doubt about that, read the first 10 verses of Ezekiel chapter 34 where the Lord condemns very, very severely the false shepherd, the greedy shepherd who uses shepherding to feed themselves rather than the flock, great condemnation. It's at His grace, isn't it, for a pastor to go into ministry for shameful gain or for an easy life. That's a blot on the testimony of God. The true shepherd will serve not primarily for compensation, he'll serve with enthusiasm, with eagerness, Peter is saying.
Here's the third one. Shepherd not in a domineering way, but be an example to the flock. That's verse three. Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. It's a great responsibility, a great privilege to be a leader in the church of Jesus Christ. The good shepherd, the chief shepherd delegates some of his authority to his undershepherds in the church.
That is an immense privilege. So with it comes a danger, a danger that Peter is pointing out, a danger which obviously was true in the first century as it's true in the 21st century, that authority may be misused and abused. He uses the word domineering, a term used for someone who uses his position as an elder or a pastor to control others, to boss them around, to manipulate or intimidate people, to have domineering where the individual is exalting himself instead of loving the sheep is putting them down. Shepherds very basically, surely, again with a perfect example of a Lord, are to serve, not domineer. They are, Peter says here, to be an example to the flock. Elders and pastors are to be models of love and grace and truth and righteousness and hard work as they care for the flock. After all, the flock belongs not to them, but to the great shepherd. We read, Paul reminds the elders in Ephesus that the church was purchased with the precious blood of Christ.
Think of the cost. To love the church and give himself up for her, Paul says in Ephesians 5. He's told us in chapter 1 that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, that we belong to God, that He is our Father, Christ is our Savior. We're all indwelt with the same Holy Spirit, and therefore we are to care for one another. It's not my church, it's not my pulpit. I tell our employees at Calvary, and we have so many, that there's only really one team.
We want to get rid of the word, I, my, this is what I do. No, it's Christ's church. Spiritual shepherds will lead the flock, not drive them. Now that doesn't mean there's no leadership. Spiritual leadership is essential. Winston Churchill said, when the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber. And in the church of Jesus Christ, if elders don't lead, that's one of their responsibility. The shepherd leads the flock as well as caring for them and feeding them. But if the shepherds don't lead, the parrots begin to jabber.
The sheep begin to wander and go their own way. Winston said, I don't know the secret of success, but I do know the secret of failure, trying to please everyone. A good word to my fellow elders and pastors. That's not our calling. Our calling is to please the Lord.
Our calling is to do everything in accordance with the word of God, to do the Lord's work in the Lord's way for the Lord's glory. It's not trying to please everyone. Some pastors or elders, out of insecurity or fear, try to please everyone.
It's as if they want to be everyone's best friend, it's as if they were running for political office. No, they're to lead. On the other hand, as Peter is telling us, the abrasive, insensitive, domineering individual should not be a leader in the church. Elders are to be shepherds, caring for the flock, loving them. They are shepherds, not sheepdogs, snapping at the feet of sheep.
Although, as I say, some sheep have been known to bite. No shepherds, not under compulsion, but willingly. Shepherd not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Shepherd not in a domineering way, but be an example to the flock.
And then see, notice the motivation. Here's an encouragement to my fellow elders, to my pastors, to those of you who have served in the past faithfully. Verse 4, and when the chief shepherd appears, we're not the chief, we're the under shepherd.
Remember that. But when the chief shepherd appears, you will, here's the promise, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Faithful shepherds will receive a reward. We're under shepherds, we're accountable to the chief shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter has described Christ at the end of chapter 2 as the overseer, as the shepherd and overseer of our souls.
It's wonderful, isn't it? We just sang it from Psalm 23. I find this tremendously comforting, that as we go through life, all of the situations, that we have a good shepherd, and I have to follow him. Sometimes that's easy, sometimes it's very difficult. Because I question the good shepherd, why are you taking us this way?
Isn't there an easier way? But the authentic follower of Christ, we who are his sheep, we are to follow him. We're to trust him, as we just sang. Yes, in the darkness, yes, when the evil one attacks us, because he is a good shepherd. He's the chief shepherd.
And Peter is saying, one day he's going to appear. And shepherds, we are to serve in light of that accountability and appearance. Several times in the letter, Peter has looked forward to that great day when Christ returns, what a tremendous motivation for shepherds. The chief shepherd is watching us.
One day he will return. The end of all things is at hand, Peter has written. We will give an account of our shepherding to the chief shepherd. Notice the promise, notice the reward.
They will receive the unfading crown of glory. That promise will sustain the shepherd who may be a bit discouraged. A reminder that that crown will never lose its brightness. The promise of that inspires the shepherd as he cares for the lost sheep, as he goes after that brother, that sister who strayed. This promise will keep the faithful shepherds on track.
One day, they will receive an unfading crown of glory. I don't know what all that means, but it's a glorious promise that the chief shepherd is watching us, and he's going to reward us, and he's our example of shepherding and of love and care. If we shepherd because of man's praise, because of innovation, because of flattery, because of money, all of that is gone. All of that, the money and the applause and the flattery is utterly meaningless, isn't it, in light of the unfading crown of glory.
That will last for all of eternity. You say, well, John, I'm not a shepherd, I don't see myself ever being here. Well, don't speak too quickly. If you're a father, you're to shepherd your home. Isn't that what we said to Daniel with little Isaac? He's to be a shepherd for that little boy. Some of you lead Bible studies, some of you teach Sunday school, and you may not be officially recognized here as a shepherd or as a pastor, but you have that heart for people.
All of us. I think of the wonderful, godly woman here that take a sister for coffee, invite them into their home, pray with them on the phone and encourage them. What are they doing? They're shepherding the flock. It's true that God in His grace puts governance in the church with the plurality of leadership, but every follower of Jesus Christ in one sense is to be a shepherd. But what's your responsibility as a congregation? With the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 12 and 13, we ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work, be at peace among yourselves.
Let me read that again. We ask you, brothers, sisters, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. Have you ever been admonished by an elder or a pastor? Don't resent it.
Don't rebel. They're caring for your soul and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work, be at peace among yourselves. When a congregation is at peace, it becomes a delight, a joy to shepherd and to lead the flock. As I close, I have a challenge to my fellow elders and pastors. You're going to see our pastors in a minute. But I've got a challenge to my fellow elders, to my fellow pastors, to the future elders and pastors of Calvary Church, first, in a broken world, the shepherds of Calvary Church must always love and care for all the flock of God.
And that would be wonderful. That's one of the characteristics of Calvary Church, that whoever is pastor, whoever is shepherd, whoever are the leaders, and we're beginning the nomination process pretty quickly for our next term of elders. Whoever they are, that they will always love and care for all the flock of God.
Here's the second one. In a harsh and selfish world, I pray that the shepherds of Calvary Church must always stand for the protection of the most vulnerable of our society, including the innocent child in our mother's womb. Calvary Church has taken that stand for many years. May we always stand firm for the protection of the most innocent of all life, the unborn child in their mother's womb. There can be no deviation from that, brothers and sisters. This is not a political issue.
I know there's concern about the platform for the coming Republican conference. Whatever happens in politics, whatever is the view of our society, we must stand firm for the protection of life. Third, in our culture of lies and deceit, the shepherds of Calvary must always preach and teach the absolute truth of God's inherent Word, including that each person has inherent worth as each person is made in the image of God, and we must always stand for the truth which is disputed in our culture that God created male and female. If we as a church, and I'm not a prophet or a son of a prophet, but it's not too difficult to think that in coming days, with hostility against followers of Christ, that those who preach about the unborn, those who preach on the question of male and female being distinct, dictated by God, that that will be regarded as hate speech, that that will be regarded as illegal. Whatever our society thinks, whether it means that every single one of us is arrested or whatever it is, we must stand firm on the absolute truth of the Word of God. And finally, in a culture of compromise which sadly is impacting many churches, the shepherds of Calvary Church must always boldly stand for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the only way of salvation. For there is, as Peter says himself, there is salvation in no other name. For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The only way of salvation is not in your church, not in your goodness, not in your baptism, not taking communion, not in all of the good deeds that you do. The only way of salvation is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. Calvary Church has stood for that from its very beginning, for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
That's the gospel. And our elders, our pastors have a particular responsibility, and their deacons, to make sure that there is no blurring of the clarity of the gospel, that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, and there is salvation found only in Him. And if you're here without Christ, I urge you to trust Him, to confess your sins, and to receive Him as your Lord and Savior. I'm going to ask our pastors, who I trust are faithful shepherds, to come and join me now.
We're going to sing, or try to, and let's bow in prayer, shall we? Our Father and our God, we thank You for Your order in the church. Above all, we thank You for the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep, that He died so that our sins could be forgiven, that we will have eternal life. We praise You for that, and I pray for those who don't know the Good Shepherd personally, for those who have never opened their heart to Him, that even now, Your Spirit will convict them of their sin and open their eyes to see Christ. I pray for our elders, I pray for our deacons, I pray for my fellow pastors. Think of all of the people at Calvary who love one another, who are shepherding in different ways. We love for one another, increase, protect us from the enemy. We realize that there's false doctrine. We realize it's so easy to compromise on the Word, and so may we stand fast, we pray, and continue to bless us. In Christ's name, amen.
