It's no secret that many Christians find spiritual nourishment from prominent podcast preachers

online, and at least of all would include you, Pastor John.

So how would you encourage these same Christians to also appreciate the role of their pastor

or pastors that God has placed over them in their local churches?

We ought to appreciate our local pastors, the ones we see every week and whose word we

sit under week in and week out.

We ought to see them as indispensable because God does not say in Scripture that He has

given to the church podcasters.

He says, I have given shepherds and teachers, pastors and teachers, Ephesians 4-11.

He gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers, and He gave them

responsibility for particular flocks, so it says in 1 Peter, shepherd the flock of

God that is among you.

So a pastor is not responsible for a flock across the world or down the street exercising

oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful

gain, but eerily not domineering over those in your charge.

So this is the picture that God has ordained for flocks to exist and shepherds to exist,

and the shepherds have accountability for particular flock and the flock, as responsibility,

to submit to a particular shepherd being examples to the flock.

So there's a structure that no podcasting pastor can replace.

This is something no podcaster can do, including me.

The shepherds are given then an astonishing burden in Acts 2028.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has

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