Shepherd the Flock Among You

I. V1a: “The elders who are among you I exhort” – WHAT is an Elder? 

A. There are six words that mean the same thing (synonyms) to describe and Elder:

Greek:                English:
presbuteros         ,
poimen                 ,
episkopeo            ,

B. An “Elder” in the church is a  Christian who the church by and her as an in a position of .

II. V1b: “I who am a fellow elder” – WHO can be an Elder?

A. The for being an elder are found in verses such as, 1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Acts 20:28; Heb 13:7,17

B. According to the Biblical pattern, an elder is to be a !

C. An elders is one who by meeting the that God has indicated in His Holy Word.

III. V2: “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you” – HOW does one shepherd?

A. An elder “shepherds the flock” by  in spiritual things (which means or providing ) and also by , (which means making sure all is done according to and false teachers don’t invade the church).

B. A “” is just one of the elders in the church, not its sole leader.

C. An elder only has  among the flock (congregation) in which he is working and
over another flock.

D. How does a one shepherd a flock? Through a of shepherds within a .

IV. V3: “Being examples to the flock” – WHY do we need Elders?

The reason we need to have elders in the church is:

1. !
2. People need .
3. .
4. To serve as an