Five Thoughts After the Sermon

Five Thoughts After the Sermon
by Vermon Pierre, Lead Pastor


Here are five things that I'd like to further highlight from last Sunday's sermon:
 
1. God gives leadership, teaching, and preaching gifts to all kinds of people in the church. He gives them to both men and women. At the same time, there is a specific calling for certain men to be the elders of a local church. We might call them "the guys" – the ones who the church will look ultimately to for direction and leadership, the ones who the church can count on to lead the church forward (and even carry the church forward if necessary!) towards what God wants to do next.
 
2. Character is everything. Let me repeat. Character, who a guy is, means everything for determining who the Lord is raising up to be an elder.
 
3. Take note of the qualification listed in 1 Tim 3:4 – "He must manage his own household well." If you want to know if a guy will really care for his church as an elder, check to see how well cared for are his wife and kids.

 
4. Take note of the qualification listed in 1 Tim 3:7 – "He must be well thought of by outsiders." I've often wondered – how often do churches ask non Christians their opinion concerning their elder candidates? It seems to me that this should be a regular part of the process.
 
5. Remember, at the head of every leadership chart in the church is Jesus. He is the Chief Shepherd, the Senior Elder-Pastor of the church. All elder-pastors, and indeed all leaders, should lead out of an underlying spirit of submission and obedience to him.