Spiritual leadership in the church

So, a whole week has passed since I blogged. Sometimes life goes by and you don't even see the time passing.

I had a good excuse for not blogging though --- Nate was off work for three days and we spent some good quality time together. It was nice.

Today he's back at work, so I'm back to blogging. I bet this looks bad me on my phone during the church service, but technology is increasing and let's me take sermon notes right as I hear them. Plus, it saves the middle man of paper notes, so it's good for the environment. Win win.

We're still in 1 Peter and now talking about sheep and shepherds.

A church is led by its shepherd --- the pastor --- and the elders, who are men helping to lead. These don't have to be old men but men of any age who are spiritually wise and are called to help shepherd the flock.

Sheep are dumb animals. If they get lost, they can't find their own way. They will walk in circles until they die unless a shepherd finds them. They are also easily led astray. There is a Judas sheep that is trained to lead others to slaughter. He is put in a group of sheep and walks into the slaughterhouse and all the other sheep follow him.

We need shepherds to find us, protect us, feed us.

I have met people who don't think they need church. They read the Bible and watch TV sermons and pray in their own. That's great, but what if something goes wrong? There is no one to find you, to protect you, to feed you and help you grow spiritually. You need church and a good pastor and elders.

That is one thing I've loved about my current church. The pastor delves so deeply into Scripture and goes back to the original language and brings out points I never would have known on my own. I have grown in my knowledge of the Bible through his shepherding, and otherwise I would have been walking in more circles and not growing as well as I could have been.

God has put people in charge of the church, and we are to submit to that leadership. Like any leader God puts over us --- government and police, husbands, parents,  pastors --- we are to submit to that authority because they are submitting to God's leadership. They are there to teach us and lead us. That is God's plan.

Use the biblical model to find a church that follows the map of spiritual leadership so you can trust that leadership in your life.