God proves faithful in pastorate
I love my calling as a pastor, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world! At times being a pastor has its challenges, but God is faithful. Sometimes you wonder and ask God, “Are we making a difference in this community?”
I walked into the grocery store and saw a family that Multiply Community Church has been ministering to lately in the community. We greeted each other and I asked, “Are y’all getting groceries for dinner tonight?” She said yes, and I told her I was doing the same. As we ended our conversation she said, “I need you to pray for me.” I said, “Sure! What can I pray for?”
She told me that she had an upcoming appointment to check on a spot on her chest, and she needed me to pray. I said, “Absolutely! Let’s pray right now!” I prayed for her in the middle of the grocery store.
As I finished my prayer there was a lady whose grocery cart was right behind me.
I apologized for being in her way. She said, “You do not need to be sorry for praying!”
Folks, don’t wait to pray. People are watching and listening.
God has given me the privilege to shepherd those at Multiply Community but also is showing me I’m shepherding the community too. Church planting is worth it!
It is moments like these that I store up as Ebenezer moments.
Pastor, church planter and Christian — it’s worth it!
Will you pray for this sister in Christ that she’s cancer free? God is bigger than cancer!
Lead pastor Quintell Hill
Multiply Community Church
Monroe, N.C.
You may think your sins have so destroyed and disqualified your life that there’s no returning, but you’re wrong. Never underestimate God’s power to forgive, heal and restore.
J.D. Greear, pastor
The Summit Church
Durham, N.C.
I can tell how strong someone’s argument [is] when they don’t need ad hominem and vitriol to defend it.
Dan Darling
Senior vice president
National Religious Broadcaster’s Association
The Church that is dead or dying has no sense of conquest, vision or destiny. As has often been said, “a church that is standing still is going backward.” The Church must invest herself in:
- Optimism — God is still on the throne and the possibilities are endless, so be positive.
- Hard work — Every obstacle is an opportunity. There is no substitute or shortcut for this mindset.
- Faith — Without this, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Faith is commitment to God and His call to discipleship. We must dare to follow Him regardless of the price tag. After all, the originator of costly discipleship was not Dietrich Bonhoeffer but Jesus Christ.
Morris Murray Jr.
Jasper, Ala.
May we be convictional yet civil; may we give clarity and show charity.
President Adam W. Greenway
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas
When church members are troubled about the “risks” of making a decision to change something, they must be led to consider the greater risk of inaction. Leaders have three tasks when leading the church to make an important decision:
- Demonstrate how taking this step honors Christ and obeys the Great Commission.
- Appeal to the reality that the pain of the status quo is greater than the pain of change.
- Love the people by keeping the lines of communication open.
Chris Crain, executive director
Birmingham Metro Baptist Association via Facebook
Prayer appears so ubiquitous it seems to be everywhere and belongs to everyone, and therefore it can be taken for granted. In our case, the danger is not that we don’t believe in prayer, but that we haven’t intentionally harnessed our energies.
Pastor Kie Bowman
Hyde Park Baptist Church and The Quarries Church
Austin, Texas
Failure is just an opportunity to show people my hope, my joy, my peace is not in the game. … It’s in Jesus, and to really try to show people who Jesus is and what it looks like to be a Christian.
Outfielder Janie Reed
U.S. Olympic softball team
When it comes to engaging the unreached, no group or denomination I know of comes close to committing the amount of money being invested by Southern Baptists in getting the gospel to the unreached.
The work Southern Baptists are doing as they cooperate to send missionaries through the IMB is getting to the very edge of lostness.
Last year alone, IMB missionaries and their Baptist partners overseas engaged 55 formerly unengaged people groups. In some of those instances, we have seen the very first believers come to faith and the very first churches planted in the history of those people groups. We can rejoice that we will be able to look around as we stand before God’s throne — on that day when the vision of heaven is fulfilled — and see our brothers and sisters in Christ from those people groups.
IMB President Paul Chitwood
From the Twitterverse
@ronniep
The SBC …
- Equipping 20k pastors & leaders
- 5k+ missionaries & families
- 100s of churches planted annually
- Billions of $ given for mission
- 47k churches working together
- All under a shared confession
- All for the nations to know Jesus.
Lord, guard this collaboration.
@JoWiKi
I’m telling you, it’s really hard to be a pastor right now. Nearly impossible for those without resources and quality leadership. Complaining and distracted Christians are about to wipe them out.
Pray for each other.
If you have a good pastor, tell him.
@GaryFenton07
Frequently we prefer that God forgives us rather than God transforming us.
@haines_matt
Pretty sure tomorrow (Sunday) will see some pastors preach their last sermon, some pastors preach their first, and everything in between. Whether you’re winding down or starting up, remember:
“Sir, we would see Jesus.”
Give em Jesus,
Call em to respond, and trust God with the results.
@DGrantGaines
Sometimes Jesus got angry. But it was never at the world. It was always at “religious” people.
@philipnation
I love the beautiful moment in worship services when we collectively turn in our Bibles to a particular passage and God’s self-revelation is read aloud. May the name of the Lord be blessed and His message proclaimed boldly.
@michaelcatt
I’m firmly convinced some Southern Baptists think God needs us. I’m not as convinced that we understand how desperately we need Him.
@jasonkeithallen
“What do you possess if you possess not God?” —Augustine of Hippo
@allantaylor54
The question before me today: Will I live with a spirit of entitlement or gratefulness? Service or selfishness?
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