29 Apr 4/28/2020 Letter from Pastor Sheek

Being Church in a Season of Separation

I truly love the title of “pastor.” For me, it fits well with what it means to be a minister of Christ’s church. Minister means servant, and a pastor is the servant of Christ’s church through his role as a shepherd, which is what the title “pastor” means, a shepherd. Actually, pastors are under-shepherds of the one true shepherd, the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

Isn’t this how our Lord cares for His church, just like a shepherd? He feeds us, He cares for us, He leads us down good and faithful paths, He guides us through dark times, He is with us, He protects us, He keeps us all the days of our lives, never abandoning us, always there to keep us safe, heathy, and secure. 

That’s my job too, that’s my calling, and it’s my joy as well. I am a blessed and privileged man to be called to serve Prince of Peace as your under-shepherd. May 7^th will complete my third year as the pastor, the shepherd, of our church. It has been a wonderful three years; my love has grown deep for all of you. I am thankful. 

All of this makes these days harder for me. It is difficult to be a shepherd without any sheep around. You start feeling out of sorts, like the flock is scattered and you can’t properly care for them. Am I doing enough? Is everyone okay? When will we all be back together again? What more should I be doing? These are thoughts that run through my head on a daily basis. 

This is when it is good to be reminded that Prince of Peace is not my church; it is not in my hands, but in Christ’s hands, the one true Good Shepherd. He cares for His church, He keeps His church, He provides and protects His church. I thank God in Christ for that. Even though we are scattered, the Shepherd of our Souls has His eye on us and is keeping and caring for us all as His very own flock. 

As for me and you, let’s continue, as the first church did, devoting ourselves to those things which make us a true and faithful church. The Word of God – let’s continue to be fed God’s Word through personal reading and meditating, through our online services and midweek Bible studies. Let’s continue to live in fellowship with each other – meaning literally to share our lives being joined together – by keeping in touch through a phone call, an email or text, dropping a card in the mail. Let’s devote ourselves to prayer – praying to God for ourselves, our country and community, for our church and school, and for one another. These are what makes and keeps us a church, even while being scattered. Oh, and one more thing, let’s long for the day when very soon we will once again join each other around the Lord’s Table to break bread together – to be fed by our Good Shepherd for the nourishing of our souls. 

We are still a church, we are still a school, even though we are separated. We are Christ’s church. We have a shepherd who never looses one of His sheep; I am so very grateful for that. I am grateful for you. 

– Pastor Darrin Sheek