Pastor Gail – Reading the Word
1. Amen, amen, amen. All that You have done. Please remain standing for the reading of the Word.
Cecilia – Reading the Word
2. We’ll be reading from Colossians 3:12-15, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
Pastor Gail.
3. We want to take a moment to pray and talk to the Lord. If you are here this morning and you have a need for healing, or if you’re here this morning and you have a burden to pray for someone in your family, economic need, if you just want to be nearer to the Lord, we want to pray. And we invite you, where you’re at right now, our prayer teams are here up front, they will pray with you if you would like someone to pray with you. Prayer of agreement is so powerful. Or you can find someone standing next to you. But God is just as close, as the mention of His name.
4. Father, right now we are just praying that You would be glorified, Lord. Lord, we sometimes just talk at You, this is our prayer time to talk with you and then listen. We believe today, that You are the God that heals, Lord. Lord, we believe that You promised in Your Word, Lord, that there’s nothing too hard for You, God. So, we thank You today, Lord, that even as we pray in agreement with those who are praying for healing, Lord. We pray for Martha today in the hospital, God, You will touch her body today, Lord. We pray for Mary, Lord, we come against cancer, in the Name of the Lord. We just thank You, Lord, we pray for Sunil; God, we command cancer to leave those bodies, Lord. We pray for the economic needs, God. We pray that even as we are obedient, Lord, and put You first in our lives, You promised to open the windows of heaven, to pour on us a blessing that we would not be able to contain, since it is so overwhelming, overflowing Lord. Lord, we pray for those that just have burdens, and maybe some don’t even know what the burden is. Lord, we thank You, we thank You and we give it to You, Lord, for Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light, Lord. I pray, Lord for a spirit of joy come in the room, Lord, that we will give You worship out of the joy. We will hear the Word, with the heart of joy, that it will go deep into our lives, Lord, and change us, by the power of Your presence. Oh Lord, we thank You, Lord. Jesus You are here, we love You Lord. You are great oh Lord. Hallelujah. There is no one like You. Lord, I pray today, that if we have anything in our hearts, even as we pray may we be cleaned. You are such a forgiving Lord. Amen.
Pastor Gail – Announcements
1. You may be seated. We want to make a few announcements and then we want to take up our offering. This week on Thursday, and Friday, we have a group of Brazilian young people coming here, to do mission work for about 10 days. So, we might ask some of you to come and meet them. They will be prayer walking, and going to be helping here in the church. What a privilege to meet young people from another part of the world, that are here to serve the Lord.
2. On Wednesday, we have at 19:00 our 30 minutes of prayer time and then we will have a half hour bible study. The following week, on the 23rd we’ll have our praise and worship night with the Brazilian team. They’re going to be leading it and I think it’s going to be wonderful.
3. Don’t forget every Tuesday through Friday, the Church is open at 10:00 for prayer. We’re announcing youth camp. I believe, Felicia is going from our church to youth camp. If you want or are interested in going, please see Leto. We’d like to see more of our young people going. And next Sunday, we will not be in the building. We will be gathering at the Riviera on the beach, in Kavouri. At 10:00, we’re starting a little earlier because of the sun.
4. Luca is going to be sharing a little about baptism on the beach. It will be his and Artemis’ Sunday with us, so, we hope you’ll come and be with us. And we’ll have a wonderful group that is going to be baptized and if you’ve never been baptized, since you gave your heart to the Lord, and know that He is your Savior, please come see me. We would love for you to be baptized with the group. We will be fellowshipping at the Riviera at the beach; it will be very nice.
For the rest of the announcements please watch the video.
Artemis – Main message
Pastor Gail – prayer for Luca and Artemis.
1. We’re getting ready for the Word. This is actually the last time that Artemis and Luca, we’ll pray for you next week, but that you’re actually in the building with us. Will you come up with us for just a second. And I think it will be good if all of us would just pray for them at the beach, but in the building. Let’s just reach our hands out. We’re thankful for this young couple that’s been with us. Let’s just pray for an anointing.
2. Father, we pray right now Lord, an anointing that can only come from You God, we pray that their lives will be completely surrendered to You in every way, as they get ready to leave here, God. Guide their steps; guide their steps. Be the Lord, before, behind and all around them Lord in every way, God. Lord, I pray that their hearts are totally surrendered to You, Lord. Let Your glory, fill their lives. We’re thankful that You sent them our way. We’re so thankful, God, how they poured into this local church, in so many ways. And God, we give You honor and praise, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Artemis and Stavros – Main Message.
1. If anyone here today knows what we’re going to talk about today, please do not tell. Because I have prepared something, so the first person who’s going to find out what we’re going to talk about, I’m going to bring next week cake. I brought some pictures. I just need my presentation for that. So, what are we going to talk about today? (There is a slide showing a shepherd). (Someone lifts his/her hand.) Did you know before the pictures? Yeah, we’re going to talk about pastors, today.
2. The past weeks we have been talking about Ephesians and we’ve talked about the gifts that the Lord has given to the church for the ministry. Today we’re going to be talking about ‘Pastoring,’ and it’s mentioned in Ephesians 4:11, but to do so, we’re to have to go back and look at the Old Testament, and we’re going to read a passage that talks about pastors that would not do their job.
3. And I think this is important also today, because there are people that will leave churches, and they will not do it because of God, but they will do it because pastors will not do their job. Because of people who would lead, but not love, who spoke but did not listen, and so we’re going to read this text now and see what they did wrong.
4. Ezekiel 34: 1-16, 22-24, 28-31, “The Word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So, they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. ‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice… I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken… They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
5. Now you understand why I asked Eric to read that, because it’s a long passage. But in this passage, we see here, that the Lord uses the prophet Ezekiel, and he makes massive accusations against the prophets and the leaders of Israel. Because, they wouldn’t protect the people, and in this passage, it speaks about grazing, so, yes, I asked myself, ‘What grazing means?’
6. Grazing means ‘giving food, protecting and leading the sheep.’ So, the shepherd looks after the welfare of the sheep. And spiritual shepherds they look after the spiritual and physical well-being of their sheep. And that’s what the leaders failed to do here. And in the picture, (tongue in cheek), we see Anton chasing Brian.
7. And we see in this, that God reacts on this. He intervenes into the situation, and He tells them, ‘that their office will be taken from them.’ We see here, that God’s heart is not longing for punishment in this situation, but God wants to set His people free. We see here that God’s heart is with His flock, and you see a different heart attitude, because these leaders, we see that the leaders are looking at ‘How can I have everything I need.’ But God’s heart was with His people, He saw that, and that’s why He reacted to save them.
8. He says that, ‘the bad batch will be deposed, their office will be taken from them, and He will take the sheep away from them.’ Then He announces something bigger than this, and a tremendous turn of events, God says, “Behold, I myself will seek my sheep and take care of them.” And that’s actually what He is doing here, He’s telling them, “I’m going to be your Shepherd.” He says, He will gather the scattered, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak, and He says that, “Those who have suffered under bad leadership, are to experience healing.” And that’s how He’s revealing His heart; that’s what He wants to do; He wants to save them; He wants healing for them.
9. That’s not only retroactively, not looking behind, it’s a look ahead, because God is announcing even more than this. He says, “Someone else will come, the One Shepherd, the servant David, I will appoint a Shepherd over them, My Servant David, He shall feed them.” We know that these words were spoken long before Jesus, but they point to Him, and this text tells us why. It’s not that anyone who goes into the situation is going to be the Shepherd, but it’s about Jesus, because Jesus is the One sharing God’s heart. He has the same heart as the Lord. His heart is beating for His people, and that’s why He’s going to be the wonderful shepherd.
10. I don’t know if someone was here when we talked about the temptations of Jesus, we talked about God being the center of Jesus’ life. We talked about Him being so close to God; Jesus even shared His had, He had God’s heart. But being so close to God, that our heart is going to burn for the same things that His heart is burning, and God’s heart is burning for His people.
11. Nothing else is more important to Him than His people. There’s a German theologian; he described it beautifully for me. He says, ‘This ‘David’ will not only be a righteous King, but will act in deep unity with God. He will shepherd the people in deep unity with Yahweh.’ And when we look now at Jesus, He even takes up this image, and He’s talking about this prophecy in John 10:11, and He says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So, when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”
12. So, He tells us, “I am the good Shepherd.” And then He tells us what a good shepherd should do, “Lay down his life for the sheep.” And that is a complete reversal to what leadership is here, because Jesus didn’t come to rule, but to serve. He didn’t come to exploit, but to give Himself. His heart was with the Father, and this heart was beating for the people.
13. So, the true shepherd we’re talking about here, He’s not self-seeking, he’s a servant. He acts like God Himself. He seeks the lost; heals the wounded and protects the weak, and in the end, He lays down His life for them. That’s the turning point in the passage we just read.
14. Because God Himself is going to become the Shepherd, through a ‘David’, the Messiah. And Jesus, He lived what He was saying; He was not just talking about it and not doing it. He carried, He protected the people, He was never concerned with self-exaltation nor power. And He finally dies for His people.
15. So, He puts the lost sheep above His own safety, and that is devotion. What Jesus did, is showing about devotion. It’s about winning and moving hearts, and saving and healing through that. And that’s what He teaches His disciples, because in Matthew 20:25-28, we read, “Whoever wants to be great among you, let him be your servant. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
16. So, as we were talking in the past weeks about these gifts and maybe you’re sitting here and questioning yourself, ‘Do I maybe have this gift, or someone else in this church, probably someone else have it and I’m going to tell that person, so that he or she knows – that’s your gift.’ And you’re thinking, ‘How am I going to recognize this person?’ In 1 Peter 5:2-3, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” It is here explained what it means to be a shepherd. So, a shepherd, as we heard, is not a title, it’s a heartbeat. It’s a person who shares the heartbeat of the Lord. It’s a character trait and it’s a style of service, and it is someone whose heartbeat is with the sheep, and not because of the title, but because he cares.
17. And I brought some examples, so that maybe we can picture. But just for you, some thoughts, it could be for example:
a. A doctor who listens before he treats the person.
b. It could be a mountain guy, who walks slowly so that no one is left behind.
c. It could be someone that comes into church, leaves church and that person is sad, and there comes only one person out of the church to this person, and says, ‘I saw you today. You looked sad, you want to talk with me?’
d. So, a shepherd not only looks at what is said, but also what remains unspoken.
e. Or it could be a call that carries someone, for example, a woman who couldn’t come to church for weeks because she is ill, but then someone calls her, and says, ‘I just wanted to see how you are. And I wanted to let you know that we didn’t forget about you.’
f. So, a shepherd never forgets anyone, so he brings those from afar into his heart.
g. It could be a teenage boy that is talking to someone about his problems, and the person is just going to listen, and is not going to step in and tell that person, ‘Probably you should do more of this or this or this or more of that.’ But probably is just going to say, ‘You want to think over it together and then we pray over it together.’
h. So, a shepherd is not pushing for a solution, but he’s staying with the person.
i. One last example, imagine someone who has been into therapy, and then is afraid to come back to church alone. But someone out of that church is going to go to that person and say, ‘Let’s go in together. And if you want to, we can sit in the last row, else if you don’t want, then we’ll go and sit upstairs and just listen from there.’ So, a shepherd doesn’t force anyone to go, but a shepherd goes with you, because it’s about you.
18. So, a shepherd comes to your side when others draw back. He doesn’t ask what you can do, but what you need. Because it’s about you. His knows your name and not just your face. And maybe if you’re thinking having met someone that is like this, maybe someday, someone didn’t come to ask you, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ But that person asked, ‘How can I accompany you?’ So, then you have experienced a shepherd.
19. Or, you’re thinking maybe of someone where you know when I’m with this person, I just can be myself. Probably you talked to a shepherd. So, if you’re thinking you’re unsure today, if you have the gift or anyone else here, you probably want to tell them, I’ve brought you some questions:
a. The first question of course is, is my heart beating for the people?
b. Do I see the person as the person so important to me?
c. Are people more important to me than the cause?
d. Am I a someone that doesn’t want people to function but I want to bring healing to them?
e. A shepherd is someone who listens more with his heart rather than with his ears. I just want to emphasize on that really quickly, because I experienced that over and over again. Even with myself.
f. Sometimes, when someone comes and is going to speak with us, we think about it in our mind, ‘What am I going to answer to this now? What’s a good answer? How am I going to bring the solution out?’ And I don’t think, that what this is about. Because you’re with the other person. You’ll listen to her. It’s not about giving the best answer. I think that you can sit with someone on the roadside, and just listen to that person. And what is going to happen with that person? That person is going to know, ‘I was not alone there.’ So, you were with the person; that’s what listening means. Really be with the other person and not with yourself.
g. And the last thing is that shepherds don’t build a platform, but they build trust.
20. And as we’re speaking about this church, if anyone has this gift of pastoring, or ourselves, the good news is that we have pastors in this church, we have shepherds in this church, and it’s no coincidence that this gift mentioned in Ephesians 4:11, because the church needs these people. It is mentioned that it is there to equip the saints for their ministry.
21. So, all of us we need people that come to us and ask, ‘How are we doing?’ We need people that look after us, that will stay healthy. I’m pretty sure we have people and I know some people that have this gift. But if you’re thinking that you have this gift or someone else, tell that person. Or pray with someone to see if you have this gift.
22. And I just want to mark on this, because Brian talked about it last week. Having the gift of being a shepherd, that doesn’t mean you are going to work pastoring in ministry as a shepherd. So, you can have this gift, and that’s why I’m saying this because if you’re thinking of someone and thinking that this person is probably not working in ministry as a pastor, tell that person because it’s not necessary, but it is necessary that we have these people in church that will take care of each other.
23. And then I have 2 last thoughts for the pastors, for people that have this gift. So, because in the end, a shepherd remains a sheep. Even a shepherd remains a sheep of the Good Shepherd we all have. A shepherd does not have to be perfect. And that’s also important for people who are thinking this right now, or someone who thinks, ‘I’m not perfect right now, I’m not a shepherd.’
24. There’s a Dutch priest, and he’s a psychologist, and he uses the term of the, ‘Wounded healer,’ and he uses this term for people that are not perfect. But through what they have gone through their life, they have developed compassion, authenticity and they matured through that. A wounded healer is still someone that himself has experienced suffering, or brokenness, and has suppressed these wounds, but has lived through them and integrated them with the Lord.
25. A person like this, will not at another person from above, but from heart-to-heart. So, a wounded healer brings hope and healing, through his own wounds. And that’s a picture to me of deep humanity, and of humility and of the truth, that sometimes the brightest lights shine in broken vessels.
26. I have a second thought for the shepherds. A true shepherd knows that he cannot care for everyone and everything, and precisely this, becomes a model for healthy leadership. And I just want to say that, because you know you have the heart of a shepherd, that is with the people, and then sometimes you are going to see someone and you want to help. But as a shepherd, you’re a sheep, you have limitations, you need to grow to know that you have limitations and your role model, and you’re close to God’s heart that always said, and because you’re close to God, you need to walk with Him when you have this gift.
27. So, something that helped me, living with this tension, living in every situation, asking the Lord, ‘Is this person meant for me? Do I need to step in right now and help that person?’ And I know it’s hard, but if the Lord says, ‘No’, I need to trust that He will take care of His sheep, because I have limitations.
28. I have a good friend and he had a good phrase to express what I was saying right now. He said, ‘It is my responsibility as a person, to distinguish between the good things and the God things. So, I’m going to ask Him, because He is the leading person, in that situation. Do I have to step in right now or not? Is there something later coming that You want me to do, and probably my strength will not be enough at that point?’ Yeah, so that’s what I think, how we walk close with the Lord, when we shepherd. But not only the shepherds need the Good Shepherd. But all of us.
29. I want to try something with all of you, before we come to an end. So, please be open to what we’re going to do now. Because, I believe that all of us have experienced that the Lord is the Good Shepherd in our lives. He has done so many good things in our lives, but sometimes we forget.
30. So, what I want to do is, you guys sit comfortable in your seats. We’ve done that before once, but I’m not sure who did it, so sit and close your eyes. Now imagine yourself walking in a path, and this road you’re walking on is your life, takes you back to the past. You go back 5 years, 10 years, maybe 15 years. You stop at one point, that you need to hear yourself, look into your own eyes, what do you see? What worries does this person have, what did they want so much back then.
31. Stay for a moment there and listen to hear yourself. Perhaps you feel the uncertainty of an uncertain future; perhaps the longing for a change, and then you imagine that Jesus steps in. He looks at you, lovingly, full of understanding. And then He speaks. What does He say to you? Which of His Words have stayed with you since then? Perhaps He promised something, that sustains you today, maybe some encouragement, the moment when you felt His presence. Just take a moment. What is Jesus saying to you?
32. So, you may open your eyes. I hope that some of you had a good experience. If I look back in my life, I know Jesus gave me promises, that He always kept and that He would always be there as the Good Shepherd, when I needed Him.
33. And because we’re talking about devotion, if someone didn’t have something today, I cried as we sang earlier, ‘This is Amazing Grace,’ and remember this today, that there is a Good Shepherd, He loves us so much that He lays down His life for us. This is devotion. And I don’t think anyone of us or any shepherd can do that for us.
34. And I’d like to mention really quickly before I close, the word that is used in John 10, that says ‘Good Shepherd,’ that can also be translated as ‘Wonderful,’ because for us it might be something in normal term, and He is the Wonderful Shepherd. Take this moment as an encouragement, everything that He told you right now, and remember that He gave His life for you. And then He says to you in Ezekiel 34:31, “You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Luca – Holy Communion
1. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. This is what we want to celebrate right now as we take Holy Communion together. Jesus Himself, invites us to have this meal together, in remembrance of what He has done for us. He lay down His life for us. He said, ‘It is finished.’ And we can remember that now.
2. So, I will read from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
3. We can remember what He has done, as we look back to the cross, where He finished it all. So, we look back, but also as Jesus said, we look forward to when He comes back, and until that happens we will proclaim His Gospel.