THE MAIN IDEA
The Lord wants us to have a senior pastor with the heart of Christ, because the Lord wants us to be a church with the heart of Christ. Even though Jesus alone is our King and Shepherd, God knows that every church needs an under-shepherd to unite and lead a congregation toward a biblical vision.

THE LORD IS SEEKING A SHEPHERD WITH THE HEART OF CHRIST
The LORD sent Samuel to anoint a new king for Israel. Saul was still the king of Israel, but Saul was not a man after God’s own heart. Not only was Saul continually disobedient to the LORD, he was quite oblivious to his own disobedience. And so Samuel said to Saul that “the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people ...” (13:14). In a similar way, the LORD is seeking out a man after His own heart to be the next shepherd of GCC—not because of anyone’s disobedience, but because GCC needs a shepherd. The LORD has been faithful in bringing senior pastors to GCC with the heart of Christ, and He will continue to be faithful in that regard.

THE LORD WANTS US TO SEEK A SHEPHERD WITH THE HEART OF CHRIST
God knew how Saul would turn out. But He appointed Saul as king because the leaders of Israel demanded to have a king “such as all the other nations have” (8:5). And so the LORD gave them exactly what they wanted in order to teach them what an evil thing they did in asking for a king such as all the other nations have. It was evil because the LORD was already their King. So God sent Samuel to the family of Jesse to seek out the next king but didn’t tell Samuel what to look for. And when Samuel started his search, he started looking for the exact same things that everybody also liked about Saul—somebody who was tall and good looking and was the leader of a family. So the LORD told Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (verse 7). In looking for a shepherd, the heart is the only thing that matters to God, and the heart is the only thing that should matter to us, too. That means that we must seek a senior pastor with the heart of Christ as the only nonnegotiable. And when we seek a senior pastor with the heart of Christ, our Lord will surely give us a senior pastor with the heart of Christ.

THE LORD WANTS US TO BE A CHURCH WITH THE HEART OF CHRIST
Read Ephesians 4:11-16. Jesus Christ HIMSELF has given us the ministry of the gospel (apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers) to build up the church and to persevere in that work until Jesus returns. The result will be spiritual growth into maturity and protection from heresy, because we will be equipped with the language of truth and the skill of love that come from the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. With Christ as our Shepherd, we will grow into maturity, as everyone is connected to Him and to one another, and we build each other up in love, as we all work together to build up the church. It takes work to build up a church, but it is the loving one another as we do the work that actually builds up the church.

DISCUSSION QUESTION
What do you think it means to have the heart of Christ? What does it mean with respect with respect to being part of a church community?