FEEDING THE FLOCK

The Greek words that are used: Poimen..a shepherd

Poimaino..a verb that means to feed a flock

Archi-poimen..means a chief shepherd

The imagery of a shepherd and his flock is deep in the life of Israel. They had a reverence for the pastoral calling. The patriarchs were shepherds, Moses, David, Amos, and others were shepherds. So, here it is used by Peter. The text reminds us of Paul, Acts 20:28

of Jesus, John 21:15

I. The Heavenly Calling. I Peter 5:2 and 4

There are five crowns of reward, that we would mention here.

1. The martyr's crown..Rev. 2:10

2. The soul-winner's crown..I Thes. 2:19-20

3. The righteous’ crown..II Tim. 4:8

4. The victor's crown..I Cor. 9:25

5. The pastor’s crown..I Peter 5:4

I heard Dr. George W. Truett one time say, at Baylor University, to the students there, "I have sought and found the shepherd's heart".

There was a great layman on the Sunday School Board named John L. Hill. In referring to Dr. Truett, he said, " He is the only pastor, I know, who could not be moved from his Holy calling".

But, lest we think that he is alone, Peter calls all the church clergy as shepherds. We all are to share in the shepherd's spirit, the official church family, the teachers, the leaders, the consecrated, and born again men and women.

II. The seeking Heart.

Look at Jesus in Luke 15:3-7, look at Paul in II Tim. 4:5. To a pastor, Paul writes, do the work of an evangelist. Eph. 4:11. Always, in our work for the Lord there is to be a seeking note.

III. The Sacrificial Life.

Look at Jesus in John 10:11. There is no such thing as a Christian life dedicated to God without that sacrifice.

1. Look at the sacrifice that created our nation. Not only in these years past, but in the century in which we live. I think of those chaplains, who were imprisoned on Baton. There were twenty-six of them and only two survived. I also think of the men who laid down their lives in Korea, the thousands who laid down their lives in Vietnam. This is the price, for our nation.

2. That same price goes into the cost of our State. I read a book about Texas. It seems to me that Texas is built upon the shoulders of men who laid down their lives for the state. Little mounds of earth all over the state washed by the rain, cried over by the wind, and watched over by the stars. But, our problem is who remembers what they did?

3. So the Christian faith, it is built upon the blood and martyrs of the saints. I had an unusual moving in my heart when I stood by the Baptist Hospital Seminary and Church in Ogbmosho, Nigeria. There are the graves of two of our women missionaries, who laid down their lives for that work.

4. There is the sacrifice that lies back of the building of the church. In this church, in every church, there are those who have poured their very life's blood into it's ministry.

5. The sacrifice that goes into our Christian life. There is no one who lives the life of full devotion to our Lord, who does not pay for it with tears and sacrifice and blood.