shepherding the shepherd
from PreachingToday.com
Pastoring the Holy People
I also remember an early Sunday morning in Shillong, India, when I watched two young adults be baptized. They’d come from a state some distance away for an intense period of Christian training before returning to likely persecution at home. They renounced and abjured their worldly citizenship to follow Christ.
“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation . . ..” (1 Pet. 2:9)
A Royal Priesthood
Royal and priesthood are two words you wouldn’t expect to see together. Royalty suggests being born to privilege and rule, but priests are service providers attending to God and acting as his intermediaries with people.
Your Elite Congregation
They’re an elite congregation, that flock of yours, which, I realize, may not have been obvious last Sunday. But Peter describes their highborn pedigree, beginning with . . .
“You are a chosen people…” (1 Pet. 2:9)
Bright Gems
Every Sunday, mostly before and after the service as I moved from one person to another, I handled precious things. But they seemed so common, so ordinary, that I usually forgot them by the time I got home.
‘What Is That in Your Hand?’
Moses had just said, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” It’s the question every preacher of God’s Word should ask. What if they do not believe me?
‘I Will Help You Speak’
Moses’ ability wasn’t the issue. When it comes to speaking for God, eloquence is as great a handicap as a stammer. Paul told the Corinthians, “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God” (1 Cor. 2:1).