Pastor Larry Pennell

He came from the Wesleyan denomination where he held a preacher’s license.
He spent several years pastoring Baptist churches and then became Assistant Pastor in a Pentecostal church. In 1978, he pioneered the work of New Life Church, Yarmouth, where he is Senior Pastor today. God has set in the church different ministries, administrations, and operations. There are many who don’t see the separation in these things. God has set some in the church as leaders, some as helpers, some govern and some follow.

The pastor has a small advantage over the his people, for he has been both a shepherd and a sheep. The average Christian knows what it is to be a lamb or a sheep, but few of them have ever been given a pastor’s heart and appointment. Every pastor has lived on both sides of the fence. He has been a member of the congregation and a member of the pastorate. The average Christian has no idea what it is like to carry the load of pastoral responsibility. A sheep doesn’t think like a shepherd. Their diet is different and their responsibilities are different. The pastors sees over their heads and is ever watching over the health and safety of his flock; “And I will give you shepherds according to My Heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jeremiah 3:15).

God has given the shepherd His heart. That shepherd begins to respond to people and their problems as God would. A shepherd gives himself to the nurture and welfare of his sheep. A pastor’s whole life is around people that is his or her calling and gifting.

Twenty-eight years I have tended sheep and found that is has helped me to be a better pastor, because what I have learned through them I have been able to apply this truth to people. These are some truths that a shepherd sees in the scriptures. Jesus spoke three things to Peter about shepherding (John 21:15-17) 1. Feed my lambs 2. Tend my sheep and 3. Feed my sheep. John 21:”feed my lamb” many shepherds struggle not in having lambs born, but in keeping them alive. The first hours of the life of a lamb are critical. If the lamb does not get milk in its body, it will not survive. When a lamb is born, the mother that gave birth to that lamb first cleans the after birth off the lamb. If the lamb was not cleaned, the after birth would attract preying animals. The lamb has a natural instinct to get on its feet, and try to find its mothers milk. The first important must for a good shepherd is to make sure that the lamb is effectively nursing from its mother. In 1 Peter 2:2 “As new born babes desire the pure milk of the word, .that you may grow there by”. That lamb as great as an experience to be born must have the milk to survive. The word is vital to convert to live. A second important must for a shepherd, is for the lambs birth to be recorded and the lamb identified. I would have special spray paint that I would use to spray a number on their backs and record it in my record book. I could walk through my flock and look for the number on the lambs back to make sure every lamb was accounted for. If there was one missing, I would immediately go looking for it because I knew it was critical that it would be found. Jesus knew this when he left the ninety-nine and looked for that one.

The third important thing for a shepherd is that I would put the lamb or lambs in a 4 x 4 pen with its mother until I knew that the lambs were strong and a bond was made between the mother and the lamb. Too often a new convert is left on their own. The shepherd must see that there is someone that will take a personal care for that new one.

1. Shearing sheep must be a yearly thing. The wool that the sheep grows helps support the shepherd’s needs. If a sheep is not sheared the wool becomes heavy. So if a sheep should lay down in a hollow, the sheep is not agile like a dog or cat, and may not be able to get up out of the hollow and will die shortly. I had an experience when I was given a sheep that had not been sheared for at least two years. It was in the wintertime when it was cold, and I didn’t like to sheer it then, only later on that winter I found it dead in hollow place.

Psalm 23:3 says, “He restores my soul”, watch for people who get burdened down.

2.     Because sheep feed close to the ground, they often pick up parasite eggs, which develop in their body and suck the blood from the sheep. There are both internal and external parasites. There are signs that are evident to the shepherd when parasites are present

John 21:16 “Tend My sheep” To tend sheep requires more than just feeding, here are three requirements..   The sheep must be treated or they will die. People can pick up attitudes that can be like a parasite and must be dealt with. Parasites will spread through a flock.

In Ephesians 5:25-27 it speaks of Christ’s love for the church.   In that He cleanses her by the washing of water by the word, so the church will be without blemish.

3. Hoofs have to be checked and trimmed. Sheep can get their feet cut or get a disease called hoof rot. This must be treated. Hoofs need to be trimmed especially if they walk on soft ground a lot, hard ground keeps them trimmed. Hard things in life helps keep our feet clean. Healthy feet carry good news

(Romans 10:15), “How beautiful are the feet...”

Watch for sick sheep, often times they isolate themselves from the flock (John 21:17) “Feed My Sheep”. To feed the sheep is not necessarily bringing the food to them, but it is taking them to the food. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He leads me into green pastures” (Psalm 23:2). The shepherd is the one who is responsible for the sheep. All the feed must be checked by the shepherd, he knows what they should or shouldn’t eat. If the food is too rich in one thing, the shepherd must balance the diet. The Pastor is like a father to those people, the feed must be approved by him. A balance diet for a sheep will consist of hay, grain, minerals, and salt. This must be provided in winter, but in summer most of this is in the grass. A healthy sheep produces healthy lambs. A wise pastor will expose his flock to the five-fold ministry so his people will be equipped and built up in unity and maturity. (Ephesians 4:11-13). In John 10:1-6 the shepherd comes through the door to the sheep, the door is Jesus, the doorkeeper, we could say is the Holy Spirit. Lets look at something interesting. Doorkeepers or gatekeepers through out the Bible were the elders. Gates were not opened unless authority was given. When a church receives a pastor, the elders must open the door. Remember, the shepherd is God’s gift to the sheep. An elder who does not let that gate swing all the way open will find himself fighting God.

Another thing a shepherd has to be aware of is savage wolves (Acts 20:29-31). Paul warns us of men who will come in, and others will rise up, not caring for the flock but only for their agenda. Remember, they come to feed the people perverse things or misleading things.

Pastors love your sheep.