Shepherd & Sheep

Essays on Loving & Leading in a Local Church

By: Benjamin Vrbicek

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Jesus loves the sheep he leads, and he leads the sheep he loves.

For most pastors, shepherding a local church is far more than their day job. The local church signifies the place a pastor’s heart loves to be, even though leading a church often involves more than a little suffering. In Shepherd & Sheep, Benjamin Vrbicek gives color and texture to one pastor’s love for the church.

The twenty-five essays in this book first appeared in places such as Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, 9Marks, For The Church, Gospel-Centered Discipleship, and Desiring God.

Excerpt

Despite the numerical growth and spiritual maturity our congregation experienced, I presented my dilemma to the elder board. Something had to give. Now that I had been the lead teaching pastor for a while, I told them, I have learned one of two things: either I’m not called to pastoral ministry, or I’m doing it wrong. “What other option could there be?” I asked. “Ministry should not be so hard.”

Calm and lovingly, the elder board listened.

At the time, I had just finished reading and resonated with what tennis legend Andre Agassi wrote in his transparent memoir Open. Agassi tells of repeatedly hearing his gruff father bellow, “Hit harder, Andre!” as they practiced grueling hours on their backyard Las Vegas court. Seven-year-old Andre was forced to return balls shot out of a cannon he called “the dragon” until he grew to hate the sport that made him famous. And from his youth matches to winning Wimbledon, that voice in his head never stopped shouting. Hit harder, Andre. Hit harder. Hit harder.

I often hear voices telling me to try harder and do more, sometimes from the closest allies.

–From Chapter 1, “Bending the Covid Bow of Bronze”

About the Author

BENJAMIN VRBICEK (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary) is the lead teaching pastor at Community Evangelical Free Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Benjamin and his wife, Brooke, have six children. He blogs regularly, is the coauthor of Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World, and author of Struggle Against Porn and Don’t Just Send a Resume.