Okay, we've got an hour and 15 minutes, and we've got two more units.

The two units are the function of elders in the New Testament, governing and teaching,

and the last one is qualifications for elders.

And those will easily fill up this time, and I want to make sure that you feel free to ask questions along the way.

Some of you have asked good questions in the break time here,

and I hope some of those will come out.

And I do not presume to have answers for all these questions that you're asking because while we've worked hard to create a structure at Bethlehem,

the implementation of the shepherding ministry is the greatest structural frustration of my life in this church.

How to shepherd faithfully the 1,200 members,

and then there are hundreds of people who come to this church who aren't members,

when the small group system that you create partnering with elders to oversee those people,

half your people don't go to.

So how do you provide crisis care and know the spiritual whereabouts so that they're not into sin or

drifting away when they don't participate in the structure that you've provided

at a volunteer level like the small group system and we just don't have

good answers to that yet.

I don't think you can be satisfied as shepherds who will give an account someday of the souls

in your charge by just saying, well, they don't come.

And so tough.

There needs to be some kind of way where you get at people.

You pursue people, according to James 5.

You pursue them if they're sheep that are drifting away into the thicket

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