Calling All Shepherds
Acts 20:17-38
August 21, 2022
I know it’s been a while since we were in 1 John, and we are headed back there next week, but since we were already on a break, I wanted to take the opportunity to visit with you about something that has been on my heart for quite some time.
I want to begin this morning simply by speaking from the heart
Regarding shepherds or elders or pastors or overseers.
(All of those titles refer to the same job)
FIRST – just to set some minds at ease.
• I am NOT here about to announce some new structure for our church.
• I am aware that the current democratic structure of our church body is very
important to several in our congregation.
I do not think that is the most biblically accurate way to govern the church
Nor do I think it to be the best way.
However, at this point, I am not willing to offend any one of you
By changing the structure of how our church makes decisions.
So don’t sit through this sermon concerned that I’m about to announce some coming policy change in the way you are accustomed to the church handling her business, because I am not.
In fact, how the church handles her business
Is way down on my list of things which are important to me.
What is of infinite greater importance to me
Is the spiritual well-being of the flock.
And I think perhaps the best way to begin this sermon is
With A CONFESSION that I consider myself a failure here.
Now I don’t say that so you’ll come running up to me afterward
To try and console me or something like that.
BUT I CAN SHOW YOU WHAT I MEAN.
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 34:1-6
• Certainly I recognize that there we are dealing with sinful shepherds.
• These were the spiritual leaders of Israel and they had no concern for the flock at all.
• All they were concerned about was exploiting the flock for their own selfish gain. God said “with force and with severity you have dominated them.”
I don’t consider that to be me, but I would call your attention again
To the LIST OF EXPECTATIONS that God set on these shepherds.
(4) “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost;”
Here God takes a physical analogy
And brings an obvious spiritual application.
“sickly” here is not necessarily physically sick people.
• Rather we are talking about spiritual sickness.
• These are people who are walking in spiritual weakness.
• And the shepherds had not “strengthened” them.
“diseased” would be people who are living in sin.
• And the shepherds had not “healed” them.
“broken” is not disheartened people so much as it is people who are living in the consequences of their sin.
• They are caught in trespasses like those Paul references in Galatians.
• And the shepherds had not “bound [them] up”
“scattered” is those who have fallen out of fellowship
• And the shepherds have not “brought [them] back”.
And finally you have “lost” sheep who are not yet saved
• But these shepherds had not “sought” for them.
The application here is primarily a spiritual one.
• We think of Jesus sending the twelve to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”
• We think of Jesus telling Peter to “tend My lambs”
• Peter would later in his epistle write to the elders to: “shepherd the flock of God among you”
THOSE ARE SPIRITUAL APPLICATIONS.
Now, we would NOT totally remove a physical application from them either.
• For Jesus also clearly spoke of things like clothing the naked brother and
feeding the hungry brother and visiting the sick or imprisoned brother.
So while the primary call is certainly spiritual
I think it is clear that there are some physical undertones
To be considered there as well.
And if I’m honest with myself and honest with you, there is no way that I can read that list and walk away boasting that I have done that job well.
One reason can most certainly be sinfulness or laziness or timidity in me.
And certainly I pray that God cleanse those things.
But another reason is simply that it is a huge job
And very difficult for any one man to try and do by himself.
We are reminded of the story of Moses:
TURN TO: EXODUS 18:13-27
The observation was clearly made by his father-in-law that
Shepherding God’s people is a task bigger than one man can handle.
The sheer size of the job requires more than one man to do it well.
And this is where I am coming to you from this morning.
As I said, we are NOT about to change the structure of our church,
BUT HERE IS WHAT I AM ABOUT TO DO.
I am about to start training a few men as shepherds or elders or pastors or overseers (whichever term you prefer).
I want to be clear from the outset TO ANY MEN WHO ARE INTERESTED.
I am going to ask men from our church to do 4 things.
1) Subject themselves to the scrutiny of the qualifications of an overseer.
2) Study and train to be a Biblical elder or shepherd, etc.
3) Do the work of an overseer or elder or shepherd like what we saw in Ezekiel
4) Do it all with the understanding that you may never receive the title or any recognition at all from this congregation.
Biblically speaking the church is called to submit to its leaders.
Biblically speaking the church is called to submit to its elders.
But, as I said from the beginning,
That is NOT what we are right now pursuing.
Right now we are talking about training men
Who will do the spiritual work of a shepherd
Without any recognition whatsoever.
Men who will answer the call of Peter:
1 Peter 5:1-4 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
That’s what we’re going to talk about this morning.
• Men who will eagerly shepherd God’s flock.
• Men who will do it with absolutely zero ego.
• Men who will subject themselves to be a qualified example.
• And men who will do it solely for the pleasure of Jesus.
This morning I’m going to ask men in our congregation
To step up to such a calling and duty.
So that’s what this sermon is about this morning.
And while there are many texts on this subject, and we will study them if you come forward to be an overseer, this morning we are going to look at Acts 20.
But before we look at this chapter let me give a little general backdrop
To the concept of why shepherds are important.
I think the best place to start is with the famous Psalm.
Psalms 23 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
That is the song of the contented sheep.
That sheep is well cared for by its shepherd.
• He lies down in green pastures
• He is led beside quite waters
• He is restored
• He is guided
• He is protected
• He is vindicated
• He safely reaches the promised pasture
God identifies Himself as the Shepherd of His people.
Isaiah 40:11 “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”
As a Shepherd then it makes sense why
God called out men to also fulfill the role of shepherd to His flock.
Two of the most famous in Israel are men like Moses or David
Who incidentally also spent time as actual shepherds before leading God’s people.
So God, the True Shepherd called out men to serve as undershepherds.
However, as we read in Ezekiel 34, in Israel those men were failing.
• They didn’t care about the sheep.
• And God actually pronounced judgment on those shepherds.
Ezekiel 34:10 “‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”
And after God delivered His sheep from their mouth
God promised to give them a new shepherd; a Good Shepherd.
Ezekiel 34:23-24 “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. “And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.”
God promised to deliver His sheep from the mouth of the bad shepherd
And set a descendant of David as their new shepherd.
And you already know who we are talking about.
John 10:11-15 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
Jesus is the Shepherd God promised to send to Israel.
If you will remember He was deeply grieved at the way in which
The religious leaders in His day had treated God’s flock.
Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
Those people were exactly what Ezekiel had prophesied.
• They were the victims of cruel and brutal shepherds.
• They were victims of shepherds who only exploited the sheep for their own
personal gain but who had no interest in the spiritual life of the sheep.
Jesus came to eradicate those sinful shepherds and to gather His flock.
And that is precisely what He did.
• For 3 ½ years Jesus searched for the lost and scattered sheep.
• He bound up the broken
• He healed the sick
• He strengthened the weak
And before He left, Jesus then
Entrusted the care of His sheep to the apostles.
3 times He told Peter to “tend My lambs”
Jesus called and appointed these men
To be spiritual shepherds for His flock until He returned.
THIS BECAME THE STANDARD
For the care of His church from that day forward.
Qualified men would be appointed for the care of the flock.
Sometimes called elders, sometimes called shepherds,
Sometimes called overseers, sometimes called pastors.
But they were men who are appointed to watch over the flock of God.
The writer of Hebrews described them like this:
Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
These would be men who would “keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account”
AND I CAN’T STRESS THAT ENOUGH
To any men who will submit themselves to this task.
We are asking men to take upon themselves a very serious calling.
IF A RANCHER IN TOWN was to ask you to feed his cows while he is gone you understand your task.
Each day you go and put out feed, you count them because if one is missing you know it’s going to matter.
THIS IS THE JOB.
Jesus has ascended to heaven and He has asked men to feed His sheep.
It is a high calling.
It is a noble calling.
But it is a very serious calling as well.
We are called to “keep watch over [men’s] souls”
Also apparent in that Hebrews passage is that
This was NOT a task intended FOR JUST 1 MAN.
The writer of Hebrews spoke of “leaders” not a single leader.
To Titus Paul wrote:
Titus 1:5 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,”
Acts 14:23 “When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
And in the text we examine this morning we see in Acts 20:17, “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.”
The biblical model is of a plurality of elders to shepherd the flock of God.
• Partly because it is a big job.
• But also because various men share in various gifts.
• And also because even pastors have a propensity for sin and need others to
walk along side them.
There are a host of reasons here,
BUT THE POINT TO BE MADE IS A SIMPLE ONE.
God’s flock deserves
The absolute best spiritual care that is available.
God has laid out that this is to be done
By a plurality of qualified and trained men who will step into this role.
THIS MORNING I just want us to briefly examine part of this passage
In Acts 20 to give any men who are curious about the role
A quick picture of what is expected.
So here we are,
• Paul has sailed past Ephesus because he is in a hurry to get to Jerusalem.
• He lands at Miletus and he calls for the elders of the church.
And Paul’s message to them, is one that I think
Is very fitting for us to look at this morning.
• Now this entire text took us something like 6 sermons to get through when we studied through Acts.
• So we’re going to only focus on a brief portion of this segment.
• I want us to look at verses 28-31 specifically.
When we look at these 4 verses there is ONE overarching truth.
YOU HAVE BEEN ORDAINED BY GOD TO SHEPHERD HIS FLOCK
Now let’s just ask a few questions about this statement as we work through this text.
#1 WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Acts 20:28
What does it mean that to be ordained by God to shepherd His flock?
Well first I want you to focus in on one phrase in particular.
I think it’s the MOST IMPORTANT PHRASE in the entire segment.
It is the phrase “church of God”
The very first and most important truth that must be acknowledged
By any man who would step into this role
Is that it is a calling to shepherd God’s church.
This is the church that Jesus built.
He said in Matthew 16, “I will build My church”
If you read the book of Acts you see that this is exactly what He did.
Acts 2:39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Acts 2:47 “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
Christ is building His church.
This is God’s doing.
No shepherd is the owner of the church, he is only a steward.
He has been enlisted or recruited to care for that which belongs to God And he will one day answer to God for how He cared for the flock.
Peter said it like this:
1 Peter 5:2 “shepherd the flock of God among you…”
• This isn’t the entire flock, but it is a portion of the flock.
• And God is entrusting this portion of the flock to your care.
GET THAT REALITY STRAIGHT IN YOUR MIND FIRST.
Overseers are but enlisted men to care for that which belongs to God.
And to further enlighten you to THE WEIGHT of this responsibility…
Paul calls the church, “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
God didn’t inherit the church, He purchased the church.
• The church represents those whom God chose.
• The church represents those whom God foreknew.
• The church represents those whom God predestined to the adoption as sons.
• The church represents those whom God redeemed.
He purchased them.
“with His own blood”
This of course is the blood of Christ.
1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
Far more valuable than gold or silver.
God paid the price of the blood of His own spotless Son for the church.
THE CHURCH IS FILLED WITH
• Men and women who had been lost in sin.
• They were totally estranged from God and destined for wrath.
• They were helpless to ever change their sinful condition.
The only hope of their salvation is
If God would send His Son into the world
To both fulfill their righteous requirement by obeying the Law
And then to die on a cross to pay off the debt for all their sin.
AND GOD PAID THIS PRICE.
• He bought us back.
• He redeemed us from sin.
• He justified us through His sacrifice.
AND EVERY SHEPHERD NEEDS TO GRASP THIS.
This is actually one of my most favorite parts of when we participate in the Lord’s Supper.
• I love to watch the plates pass and watch you take the bread and take the juice.
• I remind myself that Christ lived and died for you.
You are more than a church member.
You are more than a fellow servant.
I remind myself that you are so precious in the sight of God
That He gave His Son to redeem you.
EVERY SHEPHERD MUST LIVE IN THE UNDERSTANDING
OF HOW MUCH GOD LOVES HIS CHURCH.
We are told in Scripture
That the love God has for His church is the greatest love conceivable.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
That this love which God has for the church knows absolutely no limits.
John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
The church is Hosea’s Gomer.
The church is Jesus’ bride.
She is infinitely precious to Him.
Every shepherd must keep this perspective at the forefront of his mind.
HE IS CALLED TO CARE FOR THAT WHICH GOD INFINITELY LOVES.
Paul had this perspective:
2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”
He was charged with delivering Christ’s bride safely to the wedding hall.
• Far be it from him to let her get away.
• Far be it from him to let her fall in with another man.
• Far be it from him to let her be abducted or maligned or kidnapped.
• His duty was to bring her to Christ and it was a serious duty.
SO WE GRASP THAT FIRST AND FOREMOST.
• We are dealing here with Christ’s bride.
• We are dealing here with God’s flock.
• The flock He purchased.
• And He paid a very high price for her.
These men are called to “shepherd the church of God”
And what does this mean?
Well now we look at the FIRST PART of the verse.
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock”
CONTEXT alone here teaches us that “shepherding involves guarding”.
The word “shepherd” here translates (POY-MY-NO)
7 times it is translated “feed” and 4 times it is translated “rule”
It encompasses all that a shepherd does for the flock.
“He leads them, he feeds them, and he protects them.”
We are all familiar with the stories of David who said when a lion or a bear approached the flock he sprang into action and killed the predator.
There is a guarding mentality here.
But what we notice in verse 28 is that BEFORE the flock is guarded Paul first says:
“Be on guard for yourselves”
What we learn is that a shepherd first guards himself.
That doesn’t meant he makes sure he is safe from the lion before he defends the sheep.
This is not a selfish mandate.
Rather, Paul is talking here about the shepherds responsibility
TO BE AN EXAMPLE FOR THE FLOCK.
A simple fact is that sheep follow their shepherd.
• They go where the shepherd goes.
• They do as the shepherd does.
One of the most important things a shepherd must do
Is examine and guard himself from deception and sinful living.
A shepherd understands that he is a role model.
A shepherd understands that he is an example.
Did you catch Paul reminding these Ephesian elders of his example?
• (READ 18-21) – Do you see how he reminded them of his example to teach flock?
• (READ 33-35) – There is his example of contentment and how he didn’t serve for sordid gain.
He understood he was an example.
How many times do we read statements like this from Paul?
1 Corinthians 4:16
“Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”
1 Corinthians 11:1
“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”
Philippians 4:9
“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
And a shepherd understands that this is his calling as well.
So the first person he must routinely examine is himself.
Like it or not you will be an example, and one that is rightly scrutinized by all.
1 Peter 5:2-3 “shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.”
1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”
Hebrews 13:7 “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”
One of the things you’re going to be asked to do
Is to put your life out for an example to the flock.
This is why the qualifications are so important.
1 Timothy 3:1-7 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
You must start by guarding yourself.
And then you “guard…all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.”
IT IS A SPIRITUAL PROTECTION.
It entails all of that which was spoken of in Ezekiel 34.
• It is feeding the flock
• It is healing the spiritually sick
• It is strengthening the spiritually weak
• It is restoring the spiritually broken
• It is gathering the spiritually scattered
• It is searching for the lost
It is a life devoted to the protection of God’s sheep
So that when He comes not one of them is missing.
That is what is meant when we say: YOU HAVE BEEN ORDAINED BY GOD TO SHEPHERD HIS FLOCK.
But there’s a second question:
#2 WHY DOES THE FLOCK NEED A SHEPHERD?
Acts 20:29-30
And the simple reason given here by Paul is this: “savage wolves”
• We are aware of the lion who prowls around seeking whom he may devour.
• The fact is that God’s flock is under attack because they are God’s flock.
And while the physical attack gets most of the attention,
The most dangerous attack is the spiritual one.
Incidentally you see Paul in this role all the time.
• Listen to him write to the Galatians about those Judaizers who wanted them to get circumcised.
• Listen to him write to Timothy about Hymenaeus and Philetus who were teaching that the resurrection already took place.
• Listen to him write to the Corinthians because someone told them there was no resurrection.
• Listen to him write to the Thessalonians because someone told them the day of the Lord had already come.
• Listen to him write to the Philippians to urge Euodia and Syntyche to get along.
• Here him confront Peter for being in the wrong…
• Here him encourage Timothy to straighten out the church at Ephesus…
It is the role of the shepherd.
There are deceptions and someone must expose them and stand against them so that the flock is not led astray.
When Paul wrote to Titus about elders he said:
Titus 1:7-11 “For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”
This is the calling.
To spot danger and deliver the flock from it.
And we also see here why a PLURALITY of elders is so important.
Because sometimes the threat comes from a pastor.
Paul said, “from among your own selves men will rise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
The fact is even elders need elders.
Even shepherds need shepherds.
Even overseers need overseers.
And it is NOT the flock who is primarily called to this task, but rather it is the other elders or shepherds or overseers who are called to it.
But God’s flock is under constant attack and this is why they need a shepherd.
And then one final question:
#3 HOW DO I GUARD THE FLOCK?
Acts 20:31
Very simply, “be on the alert”
The sheep may sleep, but not the shepherd.
The sheep may be naïve, but not the shepherd.
Ezekiel wasn’t actually referred to as a shepherd.
God chose the name “watchman” for him, but the job was the same.
Ezekiel 3:16-21 “At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. “Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. “Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. “However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”
THIS IS THE JOB.
A shepherd must know true doctrine.
• He has to have a grasp of what is true and what is false.
• He has to be willing to apply that to the lives of his flock.
Paul was a good example:
“night and day for a period of three years [he] did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”
Paul was alert to the flock.
• When a sheep went astray, he admonished it.
• That is what being a shepherd meant.
AND NOW HE WAS LEAVING THIS TASK TO THESE MEN.
And THIS MORNING, I am calling out men who will do that for our church.
Now, that is a rapid fire look at a passage that will be studied much deeper by those who answer the call, but you get at least a quick look at what is being asked.
And so this morning I’m simply initiating the call to shepherds.
It starts with a desire.
Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 3:1 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.”
This is not a job that men naturally want to do.
• It is a hard job.
• But, if there is a desire in you to do this job, that could be evidence of a calling of God on your life.
• It could be that God is asking you to shepherd His flock and that He has given you that desire.
And so, I’m simply going to give a few weeks, maybe even a month
For you to pray and see if that is you.
Go read these passages more carefully
And see if this is something you desire.
(I’ve got some small books for anyone who would like to read them in the foyer)
IF YOU VOLUNTEER, WE’LL START THE TRAINING.
There is NO GUARANTEE that every man who volunteers will eventually be an elder, indeed some may not.
Some may not fit the qualifications.
Some may not be up to the training.
This isn’t an award for being a good man in the church.
This is a calling of God to shepherd His flock
And He gets to choose whom He wants.
But if you volunteer we’ll go through the training
• And at the end we’ll ordain some men as overseers of this flock
• And I will gladly submit myself to this group of leaders
• So that we can shepherd God’s flock together.
You may never get recognized.
You may never get a title.
But Peter laid out the reward.
1 Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
There is an eternal glory that awaits those
Who faithfully care for Christ’s flock until He returns.
There is an eternal crown for those who faithfully shepherd.
And this is what we labor for.
SO I’M CALLING MEN TO VOLUNTEER AS A SHEPHERD OF HIS FLOCK.
