“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28
This is another of my favorite passages in Acts. Here, the Apostle Paul meets with the Ephesian Elders, and in this moving farewell message, admonishes them “to shepherd the church of God”. This is so full of beneficial imagery! The Shepherd; feeding, caring, leading, protecting, living with, and among, the sheep under his care, loving them even to the point of death (John 10:11). This would include the warning in the next verse about the “wolves” they will encounter. Oh… that God would raise up more Pastors like this in our day!