Meaningful Ministry:
Jesus Models a Compassionate Shepherd’s Heart

In the ancient Middle East, for a shepherd to do his job well, he needed certain skillsets: knowledge of edible grasses, the ability to trim hooves, the capacity to fend off natural predators, the competency to birth lambs. However, the greatest qualification of a shepherd is much simpler. A good shepherd needed to care about his sheep. Without that, none of those other abilities would be fully utilized.

In Scripture, meaningful ministry is often pictured as a compassionate shepherd caring for his sheep: Jesus’ care for us; a spiritual leader’s care for his “flock.” Certainly, gospel ministry requires certain skills: the ability to actively listen to people, the capability of applying the gospel to someone’s situation, etc. But ultimately, meaningful ministry requires a compassionate heart… a profound care for others. An individual might know God’s Word backwards and forwards.  If they lack compassion, they will not perform meaningful ministry. Today, we ask the Spirit to see how Jesus models a compassionate shepherd’s heart, that we might be filled with that same compassion. 

Services are on Saturday at 5:00pm; Sunday at 8:00am and 10:30am