Bobby Bosler: Well, if you’ve been following our journey, you know we moved here, and I think this coming Sunday is going to be our sixth Sunday here. We’ve got our West Virginia driver’s licenses and our West Virginia plates, at least most of them. We are absolutely thrilled to be working at Fellowship Baptist Church. The more I’m here, the more I realize that God is on the move. He’s doing great things in hearts and in the community, and frankly, we’re thrilled to be God’s servants.

In fact, I wanted to share something with you that God’s been talking to me about here this week. This passage of Scripture is 1 Peter chapter 5. This is a chapter I have preached out of before. I’ve read it and studied it, but to be honest with you, up until recently, having become a pastor—that bishop, the elder that this verse talks about—it has gained new relevance to me. I think the Lord has given me a couple of nuggets that I wanted to pass along to you all here today, and I trust they’ll be a blessing and a help.

Let me go ahead and read what the text says. 1 Peter chapter 5: “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.” I’ll stop here and say this: Peter, who was a pastor, uses the word elder there. You can think pastor, though that’s not technically right; it’s the general idea.

Here he is saying, “Listen, I’m an elder, and I want to exhort you elders.” Can I say there’s nothing like having somebody talk to you about something that you have shared experience in? I remember years ago, after having traveled several weeks leading the War of Special Forces, calling up John Barber and Dr. Jim after having had some similar experience in those things. It’s really nice to talk to somebody who’s been through it before, who had literally faced the exact same kinds of things that I was now facing for the first time.

I’ve even gotten a taste of that over the last couple of weeks. I’ve had a few pastor friends and called them up: “Hey, I’ve got this thing we’re working on. Have you ever done anything like this?” They say, “Oh, let me tell you, absolutely. You need to check this out,” or, “Hey, we did this.” It’s a blessing to get encouragement and exhortation from someone who’s been in that situation.

So young people, can I just say this by way of application? Keep your ears open for folks who have been in your shoes before, whether that’s your parents, maybe an older sibling, or maybe somebody else who, believe it or not, at some point along the way has been a young person before. Keep your ears open for that kind of counsel and encouragement.

Now, again, back to the text. Here he is talking to pastors. In verse number 2, he gives the command: “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock.”

I’ll tell you right now, this man talking to you through this microphone—boy, this has fed my soul, no pun intended, over the last couple of weeks: the command to feed the flock of God, to communicate the Word of God in a way that’s going to feed their souls, to take the oversight, to take the lead in this situation—not because you’re forced to, but because you want to; not for money, because money’s not why we do what we do, but with a willing and ready heart; not dominating people and bossing them around and telling them what to do everywhere, but being a godly example.

Over these last couple of weeks, we’ve been preaching through a number of different series. I’m doing a series through the Beatitudes, or more broadly speaking, the Sermon on the Mount. I’m also doing a series called Called to More out of 1 Corinthians. One thing my church has, I hope, never gotten used to hearing is this: no matter how far you’ve come or how far you have yet to go, you are called to more.

That’s my concept of what 1 Corinthians is all about: God’s trying to move them forward in their walk with Christ. On Wednesday night, we’re doing a series called Flourish out of the letter to the Galatian churches. From the foundation to the fulfillment, if you’ve heard me talk about walking in the Spirit on this podcast, that’s where we’re going with that series.

I just love being able to dig into the Bible. I absolutely love facing a text that I don’t understand, studying it out, and preparing not just for my own understanding, but to share it with my church. Even over the last couple of days, I’ve had a lot of things happening and have been trying to sit down and work through my messages and the text, feeling a little bit behind because all kinds of stuff was going on. But then there’s that moment where it just hits you: here is the main point; here’s the preaching point; here’s how this is going to help my church.

Being able to preach through “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” “Blessed are they that mourn,” the meek, and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness—and endeavoring to model those things for my church—has been very humbling and very deepening in my own heart.

Young people, there’s nothing like being responsible for other people and leading other people, if you let it, to deepen your walk with God. When you feel that sense of responsibility, He does talk about mutual submission in verse 5: “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” One of the things I’ve been learning, and continue to learn, and continue to see opportunities to learn is that whenever you put people together, the only way that can work is if there’s humility on all sides. That’s certainly been my desire here, and I trust that’s your desire.

Here’s really where I’m going. He just said, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you,” or lift you up, “in due time,” at the proper time. Here’s what he attaches to that: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

He’s saying, “Listen, in the process of you humbling yourself, in the process of endeavoring to lead, to be that elder, that pastor, that bishop, the one who is feeding the flock of God, who’s trying to be a good example, who’s doing it willingly, not bossing people around, trying to help folks in this matter of mutual submission and humility—you know what that can lead you to? A little bit of anxiety.”

When you lead people, stuff isn’t always going to go the way you hoped it would. Stuff is going to be challenging. There are going to be people who maybe don’t always respond in the way you hoped they would. Sometimes it’s real easy to let that anxiety weigh you down.

It doesn’t just have to be in matters of leading a church. It could be in any situation of your life when things don’t work out the way you’d wanted them to, or if they look like they’re not going to work out in the way you dreamed they would, or you’re really praying that they would. Young people, that anxiety can lay upon your heart and your soul like a million-pound weight.

A few days ago, I had something on my heart, and it was heavy. I was working through sermon prep and designing a Vacation Bible School flyer, and I kind of cut through all the things I needed to. I came home, and this thing settled on my soul. It was, like I said, a million-pound weight around my shoulders, so much so that I was having a hard time. I just wanted to crawl into bed.

I was talking to my wife about it, and she reminded me of this text. I went out onto our back porch, sat down, bowed my head, and was reminded of the fact that Jesus is the Chief Shepherd. As much as I am right now a shepherd, Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, and He’s the one who is my Shepherd.

David said, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.” As I cast my care upon my Shepherd, you know what happened? He restored my soul.

Literally, in that moment I got joy from the Lord like I hadn’t had in days. I had peace and an unbelievable lift in my spirit because God didn’t just show me the fact that He cares for me. God communicated His care to me in my soul—the reviving of my heart. I don’t mean reviving in the sense that it wasn’t right with God or that I was resisting Him, but that refreshing revival of encouragement and that lift—it was miraculous.

Young people, this was so on the top of my heart that I wanted to share it with you. Most of you are not pastors. You don’t have the care of the church or the churches that weighs upon you, but you do have your own cares. You do have your own things where you are responsible to live under your Chief Shepherd, to do what He’s calling you to do.

Sometimes, in the process of doing that, there are hard moments, difficulties, and anxieties. In the process of all that, humble yourself under the Lord. Cast that care on Him. What does that look like? It looks like saying, “God, I will do whatever You want me to do. But at the end of the day, You are the one who needs to take care of this matter.”

At the end of the day, You are the Chief Shepherd. You are my Shepherd, and You will care for me so well that no matter how things go, I shall not want. Young people, I hope this restores your soul. I hope that whatever it is you’re facing, you’ll get before the Lord, get on your face, and seek Him as your Shepherd.

Maybe turn to Psalm 23 and look over those words. Recognize He is your Shepherd, and He will care for your needs. Staying under and in submission to the Chief Shepherd—that is total surrender, trusting Him to restore your soul. That’s total dependence, and that’s what we’re all about here at Thee Generation.

Thanks so much for listening.