Leadership as Servants
I Peter 5:1-12
A few weeks back we addressed the subject of slaves and masters, (Employee and Employer see week 4). In this week’s posts, we address leadership in the church.  Leadership in the church is not just something that developed in the Christian Church. Church leadership has a rich background going way back in Jewish history. In the book of Numbers, it shows Moses appointing Elders to assist him in the administration of the people.
Elders are also associated with prophets (II Kings 6:32) and even Kings had elders that assisted them (I Kings 8:1; I Kings 20:7,8; I Chronicles 11:3). Every town had elders who had roles of authority (I Kings 21:8, 11; II Kings 23:1).
In New Testament times the elders are associated with the chief priests as opponents of Jesus and the early Christian church (Matthew 16:21; Matthew 21:23; Acts 4:5-10). It would seem natural that this title would be used by those providing leadership in the early Christian communities.
Other New Testament authors also talk about the elder and their qualifications and their role in the early Christian Church (Acts 14:22-23; Titus 1:5-6).
There are three names for leaders used in the New Testament. They are, bishops, elders, and deacons, (and yes there is a woman listed as a deacon). Yet amazingly the qualifications for each is virtually the same. In the Christian community elders and deacons are listed in the plural, while bishop is always singular suggesting that each community had one bishop that was over the community and Titus makes it clear that they had to be sound in doctrine and to preach (Titus 1:9). This would imply that a bishop has a greater responsibility on the community than elders and deacons.
Some have implied that since the roll of elders and deacons are so similar in New Testament church that they could possibly be two titles for the same office. But by the second century they had become three distinct roles within the church. By that time elders and deacons had taken leadership role in the local church while bishops were the head over several churches.
I realize this post has not presented much new information. However, it does set the stage for more to come. In our next post, we will look at some of the pit falls that elders or should I say church leaders are subject to.
NOTE: As we have seen over the last few weeks, there will multiple posts to complete this weeks study. My intention is to post three on Saturday and two on Sunday. The thought is to post at 8:00 am, 2:00 pm, and 8:00 pm on Saturday. Then on Sunday follow up with posts at 8:00 am then again at 8:00 pm.
Thank you for returning so often to read these posts on Peter: The Disciple.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
The Bible In Your Hand 
44 responses to “Peter the Disciple part 7a”
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Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Oh my goodness! Impressive article dude! Thank you, However I am encountering troubles with your
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Hi Georges
I am very happy you are enjoying the web blog.
About your concern with the RSS feed. I am truly sorry you are having a difficult time with it. I decided to have try the RSS feed on two separate computers and it appears to be working.
I did have to refresh the page for this morning content to show up, but it worked fine after that.
Blessings to you and hope you will continue to enjoy the articles
Blessings,
Pastor Lester
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So very happy you are enjoying the blog and gaining a better understand of God.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Lelio
Thank you, The blog is the result of study, something I have always enjoyed doing. The blog gives a the studies a greater audience than just preaching before a congregation. I really appreciate your visiting and commenting.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Lelio
Thank you, glad you are enjoying.
I have a series coming shortly on Philemon and also on the gospel of Mark. Hope you will enjoy those as well
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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What’s up, I read your blog regularly. Your writing style is awesome, keep up the good work!
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Ramiro,
Thank you for the kind words and glad you stop by often. Hope you are being blessed by the content.
Blessing
Pastor Lester
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Great post.
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Lelio
Thank you so much. So happy you enjoy the blog and hope you stop by often.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you make
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Hi Lelio
I am so happy you enjoy the blog. The theme is a wordpress theme called parament. It has done well, tried to find a different theme a couple of times but always came back to this theme.
Hope you will continue to stop by often.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Keep on writing, great job!
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Thank You
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Thank you, so glad you are enjoying the blog, Please stop back often.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Thank You! Appreciate the fact you like the blog.
As far as host, good question as it is hosted off the WordPress site.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Darlene,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. I am so happy you are enjoying it.
I encourage you to daily to continue to study the Bible. God will send you wisdom and understanding of his truths.
Blessings,
Pastor Lester
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Hi, Thank you so much for kind words. Hope you will come by often.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Hi,
Yes I do, @lbentley50. I do not twitter often, perhaps I should more.
Thanks for visiting and very happy you are enjoying the blog.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Thanks!
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Hi Yetta,
Thank you for visiting and so happy you enjoy the site. Please, stop back often
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Well, I am glad God directed you to “The Bible In Your Hand” and hope you will come back often.
Also happy you enjoyed the theme design.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Thank you for visiting and hope you will stop by often.
Blessing
Pastor Lester
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Hi Beth,
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Blessings
Pastor Lester
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Hi, Thank you for viewing my blog and thank you so much for the kind words.
Blessings,
Pastor Lester
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Hi,
I am so happy you have enjoyed the different posts on my blog.
I will try to get more graphics mixed in. Thank you for the suggestion
Blessings,
Pastor Lester
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I do trust all of the ideas you have introduced in your post.
They are very convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are too quick for starters.
Could you please extend them a bit from subsequent time?
Thank you for the post.
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Hi,
Thank for visiting the site. Yes, I certainly can produce longer posts, but then run the risk of people not reading all the way to the end. Some are longer than others and I have published some really long ones in the Revelation Speaks Christ section. Yes, from time to time, there will be longer posts.
Blessings
Pastor Lester
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