Sermon Tone Analysis

1. How does the context inform the meaning of this passage?

Please consider: a) the literary context (passages before and after the passage), b) the historical context (circumstances of the audience), and c) the biblical context (citations/allusions or historical connections to other books that the author is making).

Literary Context -

Paul always has a band of faithful men who follow him from on stop to the next.

There is something powerful about what we see there.

We took notice of this back in .

Paul leaves Titus and Timothy behind to help establish elders in every church.

-

This is glaring deficiency in my mind with sister churches in the SBC.

Another observation is the

Historical Context -

The larger world of leadership was dominated by singular charismatic leadership.

Yes there were councils but largely “yes men” councils.

Sandhedrin is a good example but the High Priest was the defacto buck stop.

Biblical Context -

NT OBSERVATIONS

One huge observation in all of this is that in every church, there was a model of plurality of leadership.

Not just one single leader is needed to lead the church in a healthy way.

- Titus - Left in in Crete to put into order what needed to be put in order…namely the establishing of elders.

This is glaring deficiency in my mind with sister churches in the SBC.

Another observation is the

OT OBSERVATIONS

Moses and Jethro

2. How has the author organized this passage?

Please a) show the structure in sections with verse references and b) explain what strategies you used to see this structure.

Paul’s Model before the Elders of Ephesus- 20:17-24

Paul’s Commissioning of the Elders at Ephesus - 20:25-35

Paul’s Tearful Departure from Ephesus - 20:36-38

3. Drawing on your work to this point, state the author’s aim for his audience (in one short sentence).

“Luke’s aim is to show his readers a healthy model of how leaders live, train, commission and send new leaders for the church”

4. What parts of this passage connect to the gospel of Jesus Christ?

What part of the gospel is in view?

Repentance and faith is essential to Gospel rich leadership

Testifying to the grace of God is essential to Gospel rich leadership

5. Drawing on your work to this point, what conclusion will you argue to your audience (in one short sentence)?

What applications will you make for your audience?

CONCLUSION -

“The Church’s gospel witness is strengthened by elders who faithfully lead from head, heart and hands”

APPLICATIONS -

Elders get their hands dirty in the everyday-ness of Gospel ministry.

Elders protect their flock by continual theological and biblical growth.

Elders love one another deeply and fight for the brotherhood of the church.

6.

What is your sermon title and your preaching outline?

Title: The Work, Fight and Love of Biblical Eldership.

Outline

We Need Elders that will WORK tirelessly for us - v.17-24

We Need Elders that will FIGHT hard for us - v. 25-35

We Need Elders that will LOVE Deeply for us - v.36-38

SERMON MANUSCRIPT

INTRODUCTION

Illustration

One of my all time favorite movies is the movie “Tombstone”.

It was released during my Sr. Year of High School.

Some friends and I saw the movie a total of 3x in the Theatre before it went to VHS.

I know instantly by saying this this that I need to explain some things.

(1).

There was not much to do in Moneta, VA so stop judging me about seeing a movie 3x.

(2.) Kids, they used to have these stores called “Video Stores” like Blockbuster and they would rent us these things called VHS cassettes that had 2 wheels and some tape that had the movie on it.

I digress.

What stands out about this movie is the last 30 minutes where Wyatt Earp is coxed back into his role as a “law dawg” instead of staying in retirement to make tons of money on gambling.

Due to the murder of his little brother, he gathers a iconic band of “Immortals” made up of Doc Holliday, Sherman McMasters and Turkey Creek Jack Johnson to take down the infamous band of crime lords called the Cowboys who terrorized the SW during the late 1800’s.

The movie chronicles well the blood, sweat and tears that were spilt for one another in the work to secure justice!

Today, we are going to look at one of the most pictures of the life and work of elders in the church.

Main Idea

The church is strengthened by faithful elders who WORK, FIGHT and LOVE so that the Gospel will be known in our city!

Context

If you have been paying attention as we have plugged away through Paul’s missionary journeys, you likely have clued into the fact that Paul surrounded himself with good men.

This was likely due to this model that was set for him with Barnabas who mentored him and then quietly passed the ministry baton to him shortly after they began doing ministry together.

Why this is important?

NT pattern to establish churches with multiple elders so that the church had a sure foundation for future future health and sustainability.

This is an outstanding and frankly counterintuitive principle when you compare this to what we think is need for health and sustainability today.

Money, buildings and programs are very important but no one metric is more predictive of future health and sustainability than the health and training of biblically faithful elders.

OT pattern stands out as well.

Moses was the defacto leader through and the exodus from Egypt.

He was working himself to the bone and it was the wisdom of his father-in-law who pointed out the need to distribute the leadership of the Israelite people across many godly men.

The leaders of each tribe.

The Importance of this can not understated.

Local churches struggle greatly with vision, faithfulness, stability and theological clarity today.

I meet constantly with leaders in other churches outside of my tribe and I see men are the brink of burnout or failure.

I see singular leaders who could become abusive leaders because they have laid all the hopes of the church on their own shoulders in stead of Jesus and a qualified faithful team of faithful elders.

So let me state our position clearly at Grace.

We are church stands on the clear example of the 1st Century Church of establishing a TEAM of ELDERS for the church.

By doing so, we help stem the tide of doctrinal error, lack of gospel clarity and missional drift.

Elders are called to a sacred trust of Gospel clarity & advancement.

Transition:

So that is why Paul’s engagement with the Ephesian Elders is so vital for us today.

We have some exciting things rolling out with our church.

We look forward to installing Josh and Delon in the near future as well as start training other faithful men for this work as well.

Elders are called to a sacred trust of Gospel advancement through the training and commissioning of faithful men!

SERMON OUTLINE

SETTING UP THE STORY

SETTING -

We left off last week with a riot breaking out in Ephesus in response to the powerful work of the Spirit that broke out because of Paul’s ministry.

Ephesus would go on to be one of the, if not THE, stalwart churches during its day.

They were known for hold tightly to their doctrine as well as applying their doctrine into their lives.

In one sense, the Corinthian Church and the Ephesian Church might be the bookends of doctrinal and spiritual maturity in the early church.

One struggling to differentiate themselves from the culture of their city and one that deeply impacting the culture of their city.

Due to the intensity of the riot in Ephesus, the disciples felt it necessary to encourage Paul and his companions move on in their missionary endeavors.

Paul would head back to Macedonia, which was kind of his home base of monetary support.

As he is journeys, he links up with some of his team that has went ahead of him in Troas.

Having only one night of ministry in Troas, he unloads both barrels that evening and spoke until after midnight.

During that engagement, a young man fell asleep and subsequently fell three stories, broke his neck and died.