Pastors are called to preach the life-changing word of God, a Florida pastor told a group of Alabama Baptist leaders Feb. 10.
Herb Reavis, pastor of North Jacksonville Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida, for nearly 35 years, told participants at an Intentional Leaders event in Prattville that “it’s hard to believe we can do what we love and get paid for it. But our task is to do it well and to be faithful to what God has called us to do.”
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Reavis related that he was called to ministry as a 17-year-old after going on several youth mission trips.
“I think I imitated some of the great preachers of the day until I learned God called me to be the best me I could be,” he remembered.
No sermon autopsies
“We must be students and study the languages, but a sermon mustn’t be an ‘autopsy’ of a passage,” he asserted. “We’re to thrill people with the Word, finding the major proposition from Scripture and making it clear to our hearers. Warren Wiersbe called it ‘preaching with imagination.’”
Reavis noted a pastor’s power comes from the Holy Spirit.
“Sometimes we Baptists hear about the Holy Ghost and it scares us,” he said. “But we don’t have to be afraid of the Holy Spirit. He is the instrument of God, and we’re commanded to be filled with Him.
“We receive all of Him at conversion, but we must continue to seek Him daily.”
Noting that the dove is a beautiful bird, Reavis said the image of the Holy Spirit as a dove at the baptism of Jesus reminds believers that the Spirit’s job is to beautify character and countenance.
“The Spirit paints the image of Christ across the canvas of our character,” Reavis said. “One of the pitfalls for us conservatives is we’re always hurling insults at the darkness. Angry and bitter people with a chip on their shoulders need a fresh filling of the Spirit.”
Warning for pastors
The late Billy Graham warned pastors about three issues: money, pride and morals, Reavis said.
“I add another warning since I’ve seen so many pastors give in to discouragement.
“Sometimes people disappoint us and sometimes we lie awake at night due to budget issues at our churches. Success may not be visible, and we wonder if God has forgotten us. Scripture says, ‘David encouraged himself in the Lord,’ and we must learn to do this, too.
“We experience God’s grace and should live every day in the joy of the Lord,” Reavis said.
‘No crowns for quitters’
Reavis concluded with an exhortation that leaders leave behind “not a headstone but a testimony.”
“There’s no victory in what might’ve been,” he explained. “We must be faithful to our calling, even after our mistakes. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is our self. But there are no crowns for quitters.
“A.W. Tozer wrote that even after failure we should ‘give whatever years you have left to God.’ I encourage you to do the same.”
The next Intentional Leaders event will be April 21 with guest speaker Dale Huff.
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