Sermon: Sunday, 6th April, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Acts 20:28-31
The first point in our 7-part vision statement is: ‘To train and develop church leaders for the future, for the deacons’ court, kirk session and preaching’.
Has this been a strength of our church over the last 30 years? No, it hasn’t. We have not appointed any deacons for a very long time and for most of the last 30 years have needed helping elders (assessor elders) from other Free Churches to help us. However, I am much more optimistic about the future as I believe that in the last few years we are beginning to invest more in potential church leaders. We have made a start. The Lord has blessed us with three elders at the Leven end, all men who have arrived in the last three years. Things are moving in a positive direction. We need to add to our leadership at the Kirkcaldy end. I would like us all to pray not just that the Lord would raise up more workers for the harvest field in general, but additionally, that He would raise up godly leaders in our own church too. And that He would help the current leadership to train and develop these men. Do we have potential new leaders who are displaying leadership gifts? Yes, we do! That is exciting.
Kirkcaldy Free Church is a revitalisation church. That just means that we are fragile and in need of growth and development. In one sense, all congregations ought to be places of revitalisation. But we need to acknowledge that we are fragile in terms of our current leadership situation. Harry Reeder has written a famous book on church revitalisation called ‘From embers to a flame’. That’s what we want to happen at Kirkcaldy Free Church – a movement from embers to a flame. This is what he says about leadership:
‘For your church to go from embers to a flame, you must develop leaders, and then deploy them in the church and in the society around you. You will have to do this intentionally, purposefully, and with a lot of hard work. Good leaders don’t just appear out of thin air- they must be raised up, trained and tested. But when they are, their lives and ministries will bear abundant fruit for the glory of God, in the church and throughout the world.’
Training and developing leaders in our church is going to feature more than it has ever done before. But this part of our vision statement, as all of it, must be rooted in the Bible. One of the key verses here is this: ‘And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.’ (2 Timothy 2:2)
Timothy is Paul’s apprentice and Paul had invested time and energy and prayer training and discipling him, particularly through teaching him the Bible and how to apply it to his own life. Now Paul wants Timothy to do the same for others. You can see the domino effect here. As we train leaders who in turn will train more leaders, we are thinking way beyond the next five years of church life here. Rather, we need a larger vision than that. We want to see a rippling effect, with training leaders as something in our DNA, so that our church can flourish for generations to come.
But what if we don’t bother too much investing in church leadership. We could just drift along and if people who end up with leadership qualities appear at our church then great! Jesus says of the Pharisees: ‘Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.’ (Matthew 15:14) We are meant to be able to follow our leaders, but if the leaders themselves are ungodly, then people will still follow them, but they will follow in a dangerous direction.
Let’s focus this morning on what the role of an elder is, and as we do that, we will be reminded once again of just how important this role actually is. If there’s one picture that should come to mind when we think of the word ‘elder’ it should be that of a shepherd. Elders are shepherds of the flock.
‘To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 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. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.’ (1 Peter 5:1-4)
Elders must be willing to serve in the congregation, but that does not mean they should not be valued. Scripture reminds us of how the church family ought to respect and submit to the authority of church elders: ‘Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.’ (Hebrews 13:17)
Elders must keep watch over the sheep and will have to give an account to God about how they have done in this job the Lord has entrusted them with. This is a sobering verse for myself and Rich and Geoff and Elijah and Alistair. We need your prayers so that we will be godly elders, leading by godly example. Sometimes we fail in this.
Elders, then, are shepherds of the flock, the church family. This is a serious responsibility. Of course, the Great Shepherd of the sheep is Jesus Christ. But elders are under-shepherds. Let’s break this shepherding role down using Acts 20 as our main passage. Godly shepherds must lead the sheep, feed the sheep and protect the sheep.
1. Leading the sheep
‘Be shepherds of the church of God…’ (Acts 20:28)
When I think of a flock of sheep being led, I think of sheep dogs. But we need to have a different picture in our minds to understand what is being said in God’s Word. An eastern shepherd would go ahead of their sheep and the sheep follow. And this is the picture we have here in Acts 20. How, then, are elders to lead the sheep? By their example; ‘…not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.’ (1 Peter 5:3)
Elders must have a clear vision of where they would like the church to go. That’s one reason why it is so helpful for us to have a clear vision statement, so that there is clarity about the direction we are going in. And the vision of the elders must be derived from the Bible but applied to our own situation here in Fife. This too will take energy and prayer and thought. When this vision is cast, the elders must walk the walk, and not just talk the talk.
For example, point 3 of our vision statement is: ‘Equipping and encouraging members in personal evangelism.’ Elders must not sit back and talk about this. We must lead by example. Elders should be the first to prayerfully share their faith and this ought to be evident. By doing this, we can will be shepherds going ahead of the sheep, and the whole congregation can follow our example, with everyone, in different ways, shares their faith with those to whom God has placed them amongst. Elders should be ‘visual aids’ as to how evangelism should be done. People should be able to learn from what we are doing in this area.
Am I going over the top here? Should we be copying the example of our elders? ‘Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.’ (Hebrews 13:7) Of course, elders will never be perfect. And sometimes we fail and are actually bad examples to the flock. This is a serious business. I am aware of some serious failings in my own life as an elder and I am sure there are others areas where I have let you down and I am not even aware of them.
If I was starting ministry all over again, I would focus more on the beginning of Acts 20 v28: ‘Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock…’ Elders must keep watch over themselves. In other words, they must guard their own hearts. They must focus on being humble and leading their own families well. They must focus on growing in their love for Jesus and praying for their sheep. But notice, this is not something elders are to do on their own. It doesn’t say, ‘Keep watch over yourself’, but ‘yourselves’. Elders in our kirk session should be a band of brothers, who look out for each other and keep one another accountable, through mutual encouragement, training and sometimes even rebuking one another. In 2025, we tend to think too individualistically. But having been with these dear Ephesian elders for 3 years, Paul tells them to keep watch over themselves. We must stay accountable and I believe our church is getting better in this area.
2. Feeding the sheep
‘He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.’ (Titus 1:9)
I hope it goes without saying that elders must know God’s Word well so that they are able to lead and guide the flock through the issues of the day by showing how the Scriptures relate to those issues. As your minister, I am the teaching elder. So, I have a particular responsibility to teach you and to give you a balanced diet of spiritual food. However, you also have a responsibility to feed yourselves – to be reading your Bibles carefully at home. And you also have a responsibility to be committed to the times the leadership have appointed as ‘feeding times’ – Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening. If a shepherd began to notice that a particular sheep was eating less food than others, the shepherd would be right to be concerned. If a parent noticed a child was skipping meals that too would be concerning. In the same way, the elders are concerned when people miss out on the designated corporate times of feeding! Perhaps you could think about supporting the evening service and mid-week meeting, if you are able to.
The teaching elder has a primary responsibility to teach; however, all the elders share this responsibility. Maybe not from the pulpit, but in small groups, or 1:1. Elders must be able to open their Bibles and point you in the right direction. The main thing elders have for you is the Word of God so they must be careful students of God’s Word. The flip-side is this you must understand that you are sheep and need to be fed! Bible study and fellowship in the Word are key. The prayer meeting and evening services are not unimportant add-ons. Napoleon once said that ‘an army marches on its stomach’. In other words, if an army is to be able to march well and fight well in battle, then it goes without saying that they need to be well fed. Their food intake is crucial. The same can be said in the church. Elders must feed the sheep well; and the sheep must be willing to be fed and make the most of those feeding times.
3. Protecting the sheep
‘Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!’ (Acts 20:28-31)
Elders need to protect you. Protect you from what? From false teaching. In 2025 this includes new ideas about gender, and about euthanasia and other moral issues of the day. We must protect you from false teaching and false ideas, such as that all religions are equally valid. We need to protect you from any people who would create division in the congregation. And we need to help you with problems in your own lives when appropriate, being mindful that we are sinners too. We must be able to speak the truth to you in love.
In Psalm 23 we read: ‘Your rod and staff comfort me.’ What was a shepherd’s rod used for? It was for beating away the enemies of the sheep, such as lions and bears. Elders must know their sheep and be willing to risk their own lives to protect them. They must be willing to make sacrifices for the sheep, following the example of Jesus, the Great Shepherd: ‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:11) Elders are under-shepherds. Jesus our example.
What is an elder? They are shepherds who lead, feed, and protect the sheep. Jesus is the Great Shepherd. He does these things perfectly. We cannot do them perfectly but with God’s help we have to do them. I genuinely believe that when I started in ministry there was far too much of doing things on my own. Ministers aren’t meant to be doing all or even most of the work in a church. In fact, Scripture explicitly says: ‘And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…’ (Ephesians 4:1-12) In other words, the elders share in the work but they must also be equipping the entire congregation to be doing the work. All church members share in the work of the church.
I believe it has been a positive change that more and more ministers are now doing things in twos and threes. That way, they are not working on their own, and they are training others in the work. I found this quote by Harry Reeder very helpful:
‘If you are a leader, anything you do by yourself is a waste of time. But if you perform your ministry with someone else, then everything you do becomes discipleship and leadership training. You are not only ministering, but also instructing and providing a model to imitate.’
4. To train and develop church leaders for the future, for the deacons’ court, kirk session and preaching.
Why is this worth it? One reason is this. The flock is so valuable. It is not my flock or the Kirk Session’s flock but it is God’s flock: ‘Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.’ (Acts 20:28) One indicator of the value of something is how much it costs. You are the church. This is your value – you were purchased with the blood of God himself, in Christ Jesus. You cannot be more valuable than that. And that’s why elders must do all they can to lead and feed and protect the sheep, for God’s glory.
Let’s end with a quote from Richard Baxter which is a positive challenge to all the elders in our church:
‘Let us hear these arguments of Christ whenever we feel ourselves grow dull and careless. Did I die for them and will you not look after them? Were they worth my blood and yet not worth your labour? Did I come down from Heaven to earth to seek and save that which was lost and will you not go to the next door or street or village to save them? How small is your labour and condescension compared to mine? Have I done and suffered so much for their salvation and was I willing to make you a co-worker with me and will you refuse the little that lies in your hands?’