Refuge Church Byhalia exists to share the hope of Jesus, grow together, & love our neighbors in Byhalia, Marshall County, Lewisburg, & surrounding areas. Below is a sermon outline from our Walking it Out Series where we look at the Grit & Grace of life in the church. This sermon from 5/18/25 is from Acts 20 titled, ‘Guard the Flock, Finish the Race.
Intro
- Good Morning
- Welcome to Refuge Church Byhalia
- So glad you are here
- Thank you worship team for helping us sing to Jesus
- And thank you Alan for that helpful and encouraging reminder about our salvation in Jesus Christ
- For those of you who do not know me, my name is Michael and I serve as the Planting Pastor here at Refuge Church Byhalia.
- Today we are diving back into the book of Acts
- And in this post-grand opening season
- We are ‘Walking it Out’ (Sermon SEries Graphic)
- Aiming at understanding ‘the grit & grace of life in the church’
- Spending time looking at Paul & the church
- And learning about what their habits were & what Luke mean for us to see when he wrote this book.
- And this will be helpful as we understand
- We haven’t arrived
- We are just getting started
- And life in the church is complex and sometimes messy
- And we want to do church well
- And we want to do church in order
- And so we aim to pull that as we walk through the ‘whole counsel of God’
- It’s kind of like when you’re cooking a new recipe
- And you have an assortment of ingredients
- And you start diving in
- Ok preheat the oven
- Gather everything up
- Prep the veggies
- Mix these items
- All this work
- And some of those ingredients – on their own – amazing
- And some ingredients on their own – disgusting
- But if our life only consisted of the delicious or disgusting items from a recipe
- We would eventually grow tired of them, and maybe not be healthy
- And in the church – there are some parts that almost always – awesome
- Musical worship – one of those things – if the song is accurate and biblical – helps us enjoy & know GOd – and is lead by talented individuals – its great
- But if we only did musical worship – we would miss out on so much and would eventually grow tired of it.
- Then other things – are not so fun on their own
- Serving God by scrubbing floors and toilets – not the most exciting thing in the world
- But when we mix all of the ingredients together in a new recipe – the independently dlicious & the dependently delicious
- They help make a beautiful and nutritious meal
- And so for most of the summer we are going to spend time gathering ingredients & prepping them
- And then incorporating them into our life as the church
- So we can grow & learn how to ‘Walk it Out’ better.
- SO let’s dive in & get to cooking
- Please open up your BIbles to Acts chapter 20 Page ___
- Today we are going to read verses 17-38.
- NOw when we’ve been in Acts we have recently been following Paul on his journey back to Jerusalem before he aims to go to ROme
- To take the Gospel where it has not been
- But on his way he was stopping in churches that he helped start
- Spending time to encourage the members
- To challenge the members
- And build them up
- Because Paul believed he would not return to this area again once he sets sail for Rome.
- And Paul had found himself in Troas and participates in a normal church service
- And he gets to do much of the teaching
- And we learned normal church happens
- On the Lord’s Day
- With the Lord’s People
- And includes the Lord’s Supper
- Where the Lord’s Message is taught
- & the Lord’s Power is evident
- And the church in Troas – packed the house
- And stayed for hours
- Church was hard for them to miss
- And hard for them to get bored with
- Even when they were tired they made it a point to show up
- And a challenge for us is – how high of a priority does church get in our lives & in our planning of the weeks, months, & years
- Is it easy for something to take us from the gathering of the saints
- Or do we set the bar high and say our family is only missing a small amount of sundays with our local family of believers per year, and we spread them out.
- Because we need a local church and our local church needs us.
- The Lord’s day was immensely important to the believers in Troas
- And it was important to Paul
- And today we are going to continue seeing what happens for Paul as he heads back to Jerusalem
- Paul is now going to make a stop in Ephesus & give the leaders there some important instructions so that the church can be healthy, vibrant, & life-giving.
- Let’s read Acts 20:17-38.
‘17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called ithe elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them: j“You yourselves know khow I lived among you the whole time jfrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 lserving the Lord mwith all humility and with ntears and with trials that happened to me through othe plots of the Jews; 20 how I pdid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and qteaching you in public and from house to house, 21 rtestifying both to Jews and to Greeks of srepentance toward God and of tfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained uby4 the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that vthe Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that wimprisonment and xafflictions await me. 24 But yI do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only zI may finish my course and athe ministry bthat I received from the Lord Jesus, cto testify to dthe gospel of ethe grace of God. 25 And now, behold, fI know that none of you among whom I have gone about gproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore hI testify to you this day that iI am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for jI did not shrink from declaring to you kthe whole counsel of God. 28 lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all mthe flock, in which nthe Holy Spirit has made you ooverseers, pto care for qthe church of God,5 which he robtained swith his own blood.6 29 I rknow that after my departure tfierce wolves will come in among you, unot sparing the flock; 30 and vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore wbe alert, remembering that xfor three years I did not cease night or day yto admonish every one zwith tears. 32 And now aI commend you to God and to bthe word of his grace, which is able to cbuild you up and to give you dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 eI coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 fYou yourselves know that gthese hands ministered to my necessities and hto those who were with me. 35 In all things iI have shown you that jby working hard in this way we must khelp the weak and lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed mto give than to receive.’” 36 And when he had said these things, nhe knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And othere was much weeping on the part of all; pthey embraced Paul and pkissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of qthe word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And rthey accompanied him to the ship.’
Let’s Pray.
- Paul gathers a group of people together
- Leaders from the church in Ephesus
- And Paul calls them elders
- And this is a newer word for us in the book of Acts
- But it is a new testament word
- It is a word for the leaders in the church at Ephesus & throughout the New Testament
- And we Refuge Church are elder led.
- Refuge Church is an elder led church.
- And so that can raise the question what are elders and what are they supposed to do.
- Elders are God called & God qualified men that are charged by God to lead the church.
- To be thorough.
- ‘According to the New Testament, elders are responsible for the primary leadership and oversight of the church. “elders lead the church [1 Tim 5:17; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:1-2], teach and preach the Word [1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9], protect the church from false teachers [Acts 20:17, 28-31],…’
- ‘exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine [1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 3:13-17], visit the sick and pray [James 5:14; Acts 6:4], and judge doctrinal issues [Acts 15:6]. In biblical terminology, elders shepherd, oversee, lead, and care for the local church.”’
- Leading the Church
- 1 Timothy 5:17 Page ___
- Titus 1:7 Page ___
- 1 Peter 5:1-2 Page ___ ‘So I exhort the elders among you, mas a fellow elder and na witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 oshepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,1 pnot under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;’
- Teach & Preach the Word
- 1 Timothy 3:2 Page ___
- 2 Timothy 4:2 Page ___ ‘preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; kreprove, rebuke, and lexhort, with complete patience and teaching’
- Titus 1:9 Page ___ ‘ He must whold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in xsound7 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.’
- Recall Paul’s example is to teach the whole counsel of God. Declaring anything that was profitable.
- Protect the Church
- Acts 20:17 Page ___
- Acts 20:28-31 Page ___
- Biblically Exhort & Admonish the Church
- 1 Timothy 4:13 Page ___
- 2 Timothy 3:13-17 Page ___ ‘while xevil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and ybeing deceived. 14 But as for you, zcontinue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom1 you learned it 15 and how afrom childhood you have been acquainted with bthe sacred writings, cwhich are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 dAll Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that ethe man of God2 may be complete, fequipped gfor every good work.’
- Visit & Pray for the Sick
- James 5:14 Page ___ ‘Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, wanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ’
- Acts 6:4 Page ___
- Judge Doctrinal Issues
- Acts 15:6 Page ___ ‘The kapostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter’
- That’s a lot of responsibility
- Pastor & Theologian John Piper on elders says ‘The elders are among the people, and the people are among the elders. Such elders are first and foremost sheep, first and foremost members of the flock;…’
- ‘…then, secondarily, by the Spirit’s appointment and through the holy consent of the governed, they are undershepherds, under ‘the chief Shepherd’
- And in our membership covenant it says
- For the elders that have to do all of these things
- And give an account for how they did them
- We, the members of the church are to pray for and submit to the leadership of the church.
- Hebrews 13:17 Page ___ ‘Obey xyour leaders and submit to them, yfor they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to zgive an account. aLet them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.’
- And so Refuge is an elder led church
- Who has God raised up to serve in this capacity at Refuge?
- Alan Dupree, Caleb Shepard, & myself.
- Please pray for us.
- That we may live out and do what the New Testament says we ought to do as elders.
- Evangelist & Missionary Paul Washer says ‘Elders are not CEOs or managers; they are shepherds who must know the sheep, feed them the Word, guard them from wolves, and lead them by example.’
- And also rightly delegate responsibilities and make decisions.
- Because its important to know
- That just because we have these 3 elders
- Doesn’t mean they make all the choices and decision making
- As we are, by God’s grace, learning how to walk it out as the church.
- There are some things that happen in church life
- That can be time consuming and time heavy
- That don’t fall under the direct instructions for elders in the Bible
- But are necessary or helpful in church life
- IN the New Testament deacons were appointed to take care of specific tasks
- Like caring for the distribution of goods to the church
- Ensuring food was rightly and fairly shared
- Day to day tasks & decisions.
- And at Refuge Church we have a team of ‘Team Leads’ that are more or less serving as deacons
- Refuge Church Byhalia has Team Leads that take care of the day to day tasks & decisions.
- They are deaconing.
- Folks like LIndsey Shepard & Zac Dias who are over hospitality and outreach and make sure things go well from the parking lot to the seats on Sunday mornings through door greeters, guest gifts, ushers, & more
- Folks like Dewayne Nichols who makes sure our facility cleaning habits go well.
- Or Erin Demspey & Carla Simoneaux who work so hard in ensuring RC-Kids runs well and is fun, safe, secure, & Christ centered.
- We have and are developing solid teams & team leads to make sure all of the decision making goes well.
- Now again, we are just getting started
- So there are some gaps
- There are some imperfections
- There are some things we need to get better at
- So grace should flow between us brothers & sisters in Christ
- And these people are worthy of our respect, our prayers, & our submission or following.
- They want to see heaven filled, so when they say, there is a better way to say hey to someone in the parking lot – it is so the Gospel can go forth without potholes or speedbumps.
Paul’s Challenge to Leaders
- So RCB has elders
- That have delegated some responsibility to Team Leads so they can deacon or serve the church
- And Paul gathers up a bunch of elders in Ephesus
- And challenges & encourages them to lead well & do things well.
- And we have to take this seriously.
- THe challenge is intense
- The instructions are important
- The guidance is real
- Why?
- Pastor & THeologian Warren Wiersbe helps us here. He says ‘The church is important to God the Father because His name is on it ‘the church of God.’ Ti is important to the Son because He shed His blood for it, and it is important to the Holy Spirit because he is calling and equipping people to minister to the church. It is a serious thing to be a spiritual leader in the church of the living God. ’
- So let’s read – what challenge
- What encouragement
- What tasks did Paul Give
- Acts 20:26-35 ‘26 Therefore hI testify to you this day that iI am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for jI did not shrink from declaring to you kthe whole counsel of God. 28 lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all mthe flock, in which nthe Holy Spirit has made you ooverseers, pto care for qthe church of God,5 which he robtained swith his own blood.6 29 I rknow that after my departure tfierce wolves will come in among you, unot sparing the flock; 30 and vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore wbe alert, remembering that xfor three years I did not cease night or day yto admonish every one zwith tears. 32 And now aI commend you to God and to bthe word of his grace, which is able to cbuild you up and to give you dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 eI coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 fYou yourselves know that gthese hands ministered to my necessities and hto those who were with me. 35 In all things iI have shown you that jby working hard in this way we must khelp the weak and lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed mto give than to receive.’’
- Leaders in the church are to grow in their spiritual disciplines and holy living.
- Not that they have attained perfection
- But that they are to strive hard
- Verse 28 – pay careful attention to yourselves
- Leaders in the church are to know & care for the members of the church.
- We see this in verse 28 as well
- And a note here – the primary responsibility of caring for and leading is for the members of the sheepfold
- The members of the flock
- There is a distinction here
- Not every sheep everywhere
- But the flock
- The specific gathering or grouping
- Leaders at Refuge are to care for and know the members of Refuge Church first.
- Leaders in the church are to protect the church from wrong teaching & dangerous people.
- The leaders make sure that the teaching from 6 weeks to the grave is right & accurate and anchored in the Bible
- The leaders are to also ensure that everyone who walks through the doors of our church
- Are safe and protected from any kind of danger
- That’s why we take the doorway to our kids ministry seirously
- Its why we keep someone in the lobby during church
- Satan & his army watn to destroy the churhc
- Want to destroy refuge church
- So who speaks & how they speak in front of the church – is not a half hearted whimsical thing
- Who teaches kids
- Who sits with kids
- It’s guarded and protected
- For the good of the church and the glory of God
What happens next?
- Well we want to see things grow
- We want to see people saved
- We want to see people sent to start more healthy, vibrant, life-giving churches
- We want to see people go on mission to make the name of Jesus known.
- So let’s have high standards for leaders in the church.
- But let us be full of grace.
- And let’s pray for them & submit to them.
- And let’s encourage them in their lives, their labor, & their safety.
- Pastor & Theologian John MacArthur says. ‘Diligent qualified leaders are a precious commodity in any church. Paul said, ‘Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.’
- Let’s treat them as such.
- And stumble towards glory together.
Walk aways
- What are elders?
- How does Refuge make decisions?
- What are the leaders charged to do by Paul?
*Special Moment* Launching Prayer
- Wren & Bailey
- Camp Siloam in NW Arkansas
- Mission ‘To see people saved, discipled, and called to the ministry.’
GCC/RCB By-laws
- According to the New Testament, elders are responsible for the primary leadership and oversight of the church. “elders lead the church [1 Tim 5:17; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:1-2], teach and preach the Word [1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9], protect the church from false teachers [Acts 20:17, 28-31], exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine [1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 3:13-17; Titus 1:91], visit the sick and pray [James 5:14; Acts 6:4], and judge doctrinal issues [Acts 15:6]. In biblical terminology, elders shepherd, oversee, lead, and care for the local church.”’1
- The board of elders consist of the voting and teaching elders who govern as a group according to the By-Laws.
R.C. Sproul
- The church lives out the drama of Little Red Riding Hood every day
John Piper
- He had found a cause to live for that was so profoundly satisfying that it was more valuable than life itself.
- The elders are among the people, and the people are among the elders. Such elders are first and foremost sheep, first and foremost members of the flock; then, secondarily, by the Spirit’s appointment and through the holy consent of the governed, they are undershepherds, under ‘the chief Shepherd’
John MacArthur
- There is no substitute for prayer, for prayer acknowledges dependence on God and lines us up with His purposes. Prayer also allows God to glorify Himself by answering. Without it the undershepherds’ attempts to feed, lead, and guide the flock will be in vain.
- Plural leadership is the norm for every church: ‘appoint elders in every city as I directed you.’ ‘Elders’ is plural and ‘in every town’ is singular. It indicates multiple elders serving each church… It provides accountability, support, and encouragement, increased wisdom, and diversity of gifts to increase ministry effectiveness.
- Diligent qualified leaders are a precious commodity in any church. Paul said, ‘Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching
Paul Washer
- Elders are not CEOs or managers; they are shepherds who must know the sheep, feed them the Word, guard them from wolves, and lead them by example.
Charles Spurgeon
- Paul says that in comparison with his great objective of preaching the Gospel, he did not count even his life to be dear to himself… He valued life, for he prized time, which is the stuff that life is made of… Yet he soberly said to the elders of the Church at Ephesus that he did not regard his life as a dear thing in comparison with bearing testimony to the Gospel of the Grace of God
Warren Wiersbe
- Ephesian elders is unique in that it revealed Paul the pastor rather than Paul the evangelist or Paul the defender of the faith.
- The word elder is presbutos in the greek and refers to a mature person who has been selected to serve in office.
- These same people were called overseers in Acts 20:28 which is episkopos or bishop.
- They were chosen to feed the church Acts 20:28 which means to shepherd
- Paul called the local church a flock.
- So these men were also pastors.
- In the new testament churches, the three titles elder, bishop, and pastor are synonymous.
- Paul was an ambassador and not a diplomat.
- He was not interested in making money (Acts 20:33) or in enjoying an easy life (acts 20:34-35) for he was the bondslave of Jesus Christ.
- **Paul was careful to let people know that his motives for ministry were spiritual and not selfish.
- He served in humility and not as a religious celeberity.
- He had the courage to face trials and dangers without quitting.
- He told sinners to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ.
- This message was the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24) and it is the only message that can save the sinner.
- 1 cor 15:1-8
- Galatians 1:6-12
- He had not held back anything that was profitable to them.
- ***His was a balanced message that included the doctrines and duties, as well as the privileges and responsibilities, that belonged to the Christian life.
- He was too gripped by his calling and his devotion to Jesus Christ to look for some safe and easy way out.
- He would not quite but would go to Jerusalem to die for Jesus Christ if necessary.
- 6 pictures of Paul in the present
- 1 – Paul saw himself as an accountant who had examined his assets and liabilities and decided to put Jesus Christ ahead of everything eelse.
- 2 – Paul saw himself as a runner who wanted to finish his course in joyful victory.
- 3 – Paul’s third picture is that of the steward for his ministry was something that he had received of the Lord. 1 Cor 4:2 ‘moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful’
- 4 – The next picture is that of the witness, ‘testifying of the gospel of the grace of God.’
- As we share the gospel with others, it is a matter of life or death. (2 cor 2:15-16)
- 5 – the herald. The word preaching means to declare a message as the herald of the King. The witness tells what has happend to him but theherald tells what the king tells him to declare. He is a man commissioned and sent with a message, and he must not change that message in any way.
- 6 – The ifnal picture, and perhaps the most dramatic, is that of the watchman. He had to stay awake and alert, ready to sound the alarm if he saw danger approaching. He had to be faithful, not fearful because the safety of many people rested with him.
- A warning about the future.
- Paul brought his farewell message to a close by warning the leaders of the dangers they had to recognize and deal with if they were to protect and lead the church.
- ***The church is important to God the Father because His name is on it ‘the church of God.’ Ti is important to the Son because He shed His blood for it, and it is important to the Holy Spirit because he is calling and equipping people to minister to the church. It is a serious thing to be a spiritual leader in the church of the living God.
- False teachers, the counterfeits who exploit the church for personal gain.