THE BURDEN OF A PASTOR (Acts 20:13-38)

The lesson we have before us today is a marvelous expression of love and compassion by a pastor for his flock.  Paul had just spent the last three years of his life building the church at Ephesus and all of the surrounding churches in that region.  He had labored among the members, he had watched over them, he knew them by name, and he had protected them from the ravages of Satan and his wolves.  But the time had come for him to leave.  Paul knew that the church had two choices before it.  Either to continue to grow in the strength and will of the Lord, or to be deceived into paths that led away from the will of the Lord. Many churches do continue to grow when they lose their spiritual leader.  Yet, I can also think of several examples of churches, with great, godly pastors, who preached the whole counsel of God, who when that pastor left, failed to continue their growth in the Lord.  It is not that these churches do not have good, god-fearing people, it is that their shepherd no longer declares the whole word of God.  He speaks only of those things that are socially acceptable and unlikely to cause hurt feelings among his flock.  In other cases, their new shepherd allows forces within the church to dictate the path of the church, versus the will of God.  The wolves have risen from within, and they have separated the church from the will of God.   Click on link below to hear a lesson on the awesome responsibility and burden that all pastors bear for the souls of their flock.  It is a burden far greater than any CEO of a fortune 500 company has.  Pastors bear the burden for making sure they have not failed to provide the entire counsel of God, both in their words and in their witness, before the flock.  And they will be held accountable for this message and witness, not by the people of the church, but by God Himself.    This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS. Amen.