TEN STEPS TO SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

Nehemiah 8:1- 13:31

The last six chapters of Nehemiah describe the renewal among the people of Israel, who were reestablishing a national presence in Jerusalem. That path is open to anyone who wants to experience revival. The Israelites were making room for God to work by following these steps:

1. Getting back to the Book (8:1-12)

2. Getting serious about obedience (8:13-18)

3. Getting concerned about sin (9:1-37)

4. Getting caught up in worship (9:1-37)

5. Becoming accountable for conduct (9:38-10:31)

6. Taking a pledge to give sacrificially (10:32-39)

7. Offering themselves for service (11:1-36)

8. Giving thanks for God’s goodness (12:1-47)

9. Doing away with compromise (13:1-22)

10. Confronting sin (13:23-31)

Pastor David Jerimiah 

CHURCH LEADERSHIP

1 TIMOTHY 3:1-13

Why do we have leaders in the church? Why is it necessary for a few people to hold positions of power? Couldn’t God alone make all the decisions? After all, its members are His people, His family.

That might have been the case had Adam and Eve did not sin. But their sin introduced chaos into our earthly relationships, and dealing with chaos requires require us to establish order – which does not naturally happen within a group of individuals without a leader.

Sometimes the task of leadership is to divide an overwhelming amount of labor, as Moses did when he appointed judges to be “chiefs of thousand, of hundred, of fifties, and of tens” (Ex. 18:21). When the nation of Israel needed deliverance from oppressors, God chose judges to lead the. Jesus Himself chose apostle, both during His earthy life and after His resurrection, who would found the entire church (Eph. 2:20).

After Christ’s ascension, the apostles immediately became “pastor” to 3000 new Christians – a number that grew rapidly in the days and weeks after Pentecost (Acts. 2:41, 47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:1,7; 9:31, 35, 42; 11:21, 24; 14:21; 16:5). Soon the apostles became so overwhelmed with administration that they didn’t have time for true spiritual calling “prayer and…the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). The apostles asked the Jerusalem church to select “from among (them) seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3), who could take care of logistical matters like the distribution of food.

At that point, the early church had two categories of leaders: apostles were concerned with oversight, seeking spiritual direction for the body of Christ in prayer and also proclaiming the gospel in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the seven servers focused on managing the day-to-today affairs of the church.

Once the church began to spread, Paul appointed elders and deacons to oversee local churches and to take care of their spiritual and physical needs. In addition, Paul appointed some of his proteges to provide interim leadership in the new congregations, thus carrying those new assemblies forward. These ministers all had three qualifications: they had to be reputable, Spirit-filled, and wise (Acts 6:3), since they would be responsible for correcting moral impurity (1 Cor. 5:1-5, 9-11), maintaining order in worship (1 Cor. 14:26-35), and rejecting heresy (1:3,4).

In 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9, Paul details the qualifications for overseers (or elders); the qualifications for deacons and their wives (husbands) are found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Churches were expected to use these lists when they were going to “appoint elders” in all the cities where new congregations were established (Titus 1:5). These elders, according to Paul, needed to be established in the faith and “above reproach” – not perfect, but free from scandal and condemnation in their personal and family lives (3:2-7). They were also responsible for the teaching and preaching in the church (3:2), activities necessary for combatting false teaching.

As the churches matured, their leaders and positions of leadership became established. The writer to the Hebrews suggests that the churches that would receive his letter were being-shepherded by second-generation leaders (Heb. 13:17).

Now, many centuries after the first installment of church leaders, churches still need godly shepherds who can not only preach and defend the gospel but also faithfully serve the flock, ever mindful that they serve under the “Chief Shepherd” who tenderly cares for His own (1 Peter 5:2,4). The health of the church in the midst of a hostile world depends on the quality of its leadership.