Prepare for Worship | Follow Their Lead
Last Sunday, Pastor Ken Lewis encouraged us to trust in our sovereign God who sanctifies us through suffering from 1 Peter 4:12-19.
Read: 1 Peter 5:1-5a
This Sunday, Pastor Will Jackson will exhort us from 1 Peter 5:1-5a to embrace the gift of spiritual leaders in the exile. As you prepare for our Sunday gathering, consider this encouragement from Greg Morse on eagerly following the lead of our pastors.
Reflect: “Follow Their Lead”
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Hebrews 13:17)
A wise flock wants its shepherds to lead with joy. As they seek to shepherd you, follow their lead to Jesus, be ready to be persuaded by their teaching, submit to their guidance as far as Scripture allows. Do so readily, eagerly, thankfully that they might cheerfully discharge their eternal duty of caring for your immortal soul (for which they will give an account).
Following your shepherds’ lead is to your own advantage. Happy pastors pastor better. If a plurality of pastors is met with mostly antagonism, indifference, or distrust, the flock does them no favors to pastor as God would have them — “exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you” (1 Peter 5:2–3).
So esteem your pastors highly in the Lord, imitate them, pray for them, stand by them in trials, join them in the work of ministry, and be eager to submit to their direction. In so doing, you will sit them down upon the Rock, hold up their arms, and help them to serve your soul more of Jesus [see Exodus 17]. And by God’s grace, you will defeat the Amaleks of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Persist in this, that we may all have a good report to give to the Master on that day — pastors for how they shepherded, and sheep for how they followed.
Excerpt from “How to Care for Your Pastor: Five Ways to Uplift Your Shepherds,” by Greg Morse, on desiringgod.org.
Sing: Song List for Sunday
1. “God Is for Us,” by CityAlight
2. “How Great Thou Art,” Arr. Paul Baloche
3. “Christus Victor (Amen),” by Keith & Kristyn Getty
4. “On That Day,” by CityAlight
5. “Behold Our God,” by Sovereign Grace Music