Following A Faithful Shepherd

Acts 

Last weekend, our visiting missionaries recounted for us the real "costs" they've gladly counted for the sake of missions. Had the Apostle Paul been sitting in the congregation, he would have said "Amen" to all those costs and more. As we come to our text this Sunday, which is Acts 20:13-38, Paul is on the final leg of his third missionary journey...a journey that has spanned almost three years. He is understandably anxious to return home to Jerusalem, and is trying to make it back before Pentecost. Even so, it is important for him to stop off and encourage the spiritual leaders in Ephesus one last time. 

Paul speaks autobiographically throughout the text about the cost he's gladly and faithfully paid as a shepherd of God's flock, and he challenges these leaders to follow his example. He does that by reminding them of the cost that God paid to redeem the church...to set her free from the bondage of sin and death and to clothe her with Christ's righteousness. And then he lays out, by example, the call for them to faithfully shepherd the Ephesian church, but also us to faithfully shepherd the church at 2424 Rivermont Avenue. What does that faithful shepherding look like? It looks like shepherding the whole church of God with the whole counsel of God from the whole gospel of God. To prepare for this Sunday's sermon, I would encourage you to read Acts 20:13-38, Ephesians 2:14-15, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Titus 2:11-12.

As we gather together for worship this Lord's Day, we do so because God is seeking us, not the other way around. He is seeking worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Let's be that people as we join our voices to sing the Hymn of Praise “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death,” the Acclamation of Praise, “Before the Throne of God Above,” and the Hymn of Response “Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right.” And above all, let's come prepared to meet with God through his prescribed means of grace, namely the preaching and reading of God's Word. 

Sermon Information

Text: Acts 20:13-38

Title: Following A Faithful Shepherd

Outline:

1. We must shepherd the whole church of God.
2. We Must shepherd with the whole counsel of God.
3. We Must shepherd from the whole Gospel of God.

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