ISAIAH 53:6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.

ISAIAH 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.

ROMANS 3:12 All have turned aside no one does good, not even one.

PSALM 23:1 4 (CSB) 1 The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name's sake. 4 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.

ISAIAH 40:11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

PSALM 77:20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

EZEKIEL 34:2 4 2 shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.

EZEKIEL 34:5 6 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

MATTHEW 9:35 37 35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

MATTHEW 9:35 37 35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

MATTHEW 10:6 Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

CHARLES JEFFERSON, The Minister as Shepherd The shepherd idea has something in it which appeals to the universal heart. Even in our western world from which machinery and commerce have driven the shepherd and his flock, the best-loved of all the psalms remains the Shepherd Psalm. More men and women read and cherish The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want than any other poem in the Psalter. Millions who have had no experience with sheepfolds, and to whom a sheep has been an animal almost unknown, have been strangely moved by the piercing pathos of the story which Jesus told of a shepherd who went out in search of one sheep that was lost.

JOHN 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

PSALM 77:20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

JOHN 21:15 17 Feed my lambs (v. 15) Tend my sheep (v. 16) Feed my sheep (v. 17)

ACTS 20:17 18, 28 30 17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

1 PETER 5:1 4 1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

SUMMARY & IMPLICATIONS

SUMMARY & IMPLICATIONS 1. Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd who has assigned elders, pastors, and overseers to care for his sheep whom he purchased with his own blood.

SUMMARY & IMPLICATIONS 1. Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd who has assigned elders, pastors, and overseers to care for his sheep whom he purchased with his own blood. 2. Elder, pastor, and overseer refer to the same basic leadership position in a church. So they share the sacred task of shepherding a local church. 3. We will be proposing a single unified ministry team consisting of unpaid elders and paid pastors who work together to oversee the BridgePoint flock.

SUMMARY & IMPLICATIONS 4. We want to have enough leaders to care for the flock but not so many that the group becomes cumbersome or relationally distant.

SUMMARY & IMPLICATIONS 4. We want to have enough leaders to care for the flock but not so many that the group becomes cumbersome or relationally distant. 5. We want to avoid board terminology because the church is a family and a flock rather than a business.