Questions On The Motives Of Ministry

Secondly, if his heart is not fully going to be in the sermons then what he says is in vain. Sermons do require practice, but also sermons require the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is going to work at the heart of the hearers of the sermon and the preacher. If the pastor’s heart is not tender to God’s Word before he preaches, the congregation will not receive the sermon. Preachers must have boldness, pure hearts, and clearness when he is preaching (2 Timothy 2:15)! Along with the preaching, pastors are to have a heart for service outside the pulpit. The list includes meetings, church events, small groups, visitations, funerals, and community events. Pastors are to be salt and light unto the world and for his flock (Matthew 5:13-16). It is not good enough to be a body at the events, he must be invested in the people in everything. Many times, the heart wants to isolate a believer to do their own thing (Proverbs 18:1). As a pastor, he cannot afford to give up his opportunities to serve! God uses pastors as a “figure head” of what Christ is. No, it does not mean he is above everyone else, but the pastor is a shepherd of his flock (1 Peter 5:1-4). Pastoral ministry cannot be viewed as a job because it ruins the heart of the ministry.

The compassion shown by the Pastors and leaders helps people's faith walk become "a mile deep" while walking in Christ and engaging in the community. Individuals who remain active in the church, are the ones discovering their gifts and using their talents for the glory of God and to build the kingdom of God up. Also, the church must take ownership of their faith and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ to the point where they are willing and ready to reinvest their faith into the life of another person. One of the ways to succeed in doing this is by putting together

According to Ministry Is…, chapter 27, "_____ _ ____ seeks the best for others before the throne of God by bringing their needs to the

As missional leader, my task is to help my congregation, synod, and church wide to understand the need for adaptive leadership if we are to be vital and thriving hubs for missional outreach in the world. Additionally, I must motivate parishioners and lay leaders to be agents of change; not to be agents of status quo. Additionally, my goal allow the Spirit to transform my congregations from an inward focus of maintenance to an outward focus of mission and to invite my congregation to be agents of adaptive leadership and transformation beyond their comfort zones of homogeneity in their current community context. In other words, my assignment is to help my congregation to understand that the task of the church is to be the church. I must show them the importance of evangelism and outreach, but our doing is important must be married with our being the church. I must help my

We need to be with people where they are without the need to ‘fix’ them, rather, trusting God to do what He is doing in their lives, hoping that He uses me as part of the process. I know that I will be learning and growing with those whom God sends me.” Pastor Renfro was then asked how has he evolved or grown as a servant leader. He responded, “Each of us follows a circuitous, sometimes difficult pathway in ministry, we learn, we grow, we become more aware of ourselves as people and as ministers. I am a country preacher, and although I have a wealth of formal education and training, I continue to grow and evolve daily, as a person, and as a minister.” Renfro continues, “the most difficult thing to overcome is our own tendency to be ostentatious - a lack of genuineness and openness; you need to go deep in faith and in ministry; my own history, as a country preacher, took a great deal of energy to integrate and allow this to be my greatest strength.” When asked what he believed are the advantages/disadvantages of being a servant leader, Renfro responded, “a strength and advantage would be to possess a non-judgmental presence, to allow people to be the who, what, and where they need to be in our encounters; the disadvantage in that is some people might consider this position as too indeterminate, lacking in absolutes.” Renfro commented on the partnerships he has forged in his life of servant leadership, starting with being a Clinical Pastor Supervisor (certified to teach at the graduate level), a Diplomate of the College of Pastoral Supervision, a nationally certified Professional Chaplain by the Association of Professional Chaplains, and also an Ordained Bishop in the Church of

When it comes to ensuring the fulfillment of the vision and mission of the church it is important to sweat the small stuff. Toler and Nelson gives insight as to how important it is to be proactive when it comes to ministry. We should pay attention to the seemingly insignificant details because the minor details can make the difference in the ministry’s success or failure.

Drucker’s admonishment assists me as a pastor to remain faithful to what God has called me to do. My ambition should not be reflective of a business matrix. Rather, my purpose is to serve others as they progress on their journey in Christ. Furthermore, I am reminded that I am not a CEO, but an under-shepherd to the Good Shepherd. With that in mind, I must lead as Christ, through serving the needs of the mission. Jesus’ mission was to “seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10, ESV). As a pastor, my mission is found in Ephesians 4:11-16 and Matthew 28:19-20. I must strive to be faithful to the mission He has given me to point people to Jesus and develop disciples.

Relational. The ministry of Jesus was focused on people and meeting their needs. Spending time with others, both individually and through corporate gatherings, is modeled throughout the Bible. Fellowship with other believers in small groups allows individuals to forge relationships and develop accountability at some level. These deeper bonds demonstrate to others their love for God and others by loving God’s Law, obeying it by God’s grace, and allowing it to lead to Jesus Christ for transformation into His image.

Leadership roles have to take into consideration some of the things applied to Christian unity and when applying personal transformation “ is to become a reality through personal resolve and action Applying communication in Christian unity is essential because it provides the personal transformation that is dependent on the vision, intention and means. According to Muelhoff & lewis authentic Communication!!!!!!! Gives insight to the varied methods needed to conceptualize and challenge our faith. We are reminded of (Eph 4:15, 25-26) When disagreements arise between believers to “speak the truth in love” before the sun settles. According, to Croucher & Harris there are two paradigms that are essential to the growth of Christian communication which relates Therefore, it is important to note that expressing competence in the area of communication allows Christians, to redefine and improve our communication skills. The process and art of communication is part of everything in our daily lives, and communication is essential to the nature of our being, all things are interconnected. Taking perspective of the world we live in, and understanding others, “allows us to understand the systems of meaning created by individuals and it allows for clarified thinking of our own ideals, visions, and perspective…a time of understanding our own thoughts

There are more things that one must consider before saying YES to God and answering the call of ministry and when it comes to your own personal life, what are some things you must deal with before you cross over to the call of ministry? This is something you must review.

Among the challenge of understanding the people that you are ministering to or with is the challenge of being able to maintain high standards of moral behavior in a challenging environment (Martin.n.d). There is also the challenge of ever changing volunteers and the lack of volunteers (Martin.,n.d). As a Christian leader, we tend to believe that there will always be an abundance of volunteers to serve God but that is not always the case as I have witnessed personally.

Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.

Recently I sat down with my pastor to discuss my future in ministry. I had some very heavy things weighing on my heart. After laying them out, I stated that “I often feel like I don’t have the needed self-confidence to do this ministry thing” and that “I think that I’m going to need a very supportive pastor in order to survive my first pastorate.” It was there that he stopped me cold and made if very clear that I could not and should not enter into ministry with that mindset. I could not expect my self-confidence to come from other people. I had to seek that from God. In the moments to come, through some very introspective conversation, I realized that I had been approaching the entire idea of ministry from the wrong direction. Without realizing it I had made it a “strong on the outside” thing. I had completely avoided the true spiritual formation that needed to be occurring on the inside.

After reading Chapter 2 of Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry by Willimon I found that there is many ways to minister to people. It is possible to collectively and effectively utilize a little piece from each area to make it work. The primary thing to realize is that you are not overly dependent on one area versus another, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in your ministry.

If our vertical relationship is not maintained and kept healthy then it only points to one major problem and that is we are out of fellowship with God. Jesus knew that people could see the difference whether people were sincere or not. That’s why he stressed the importance of a right relationship with God so that when we do good works or witness people will know we are sincere. Wheeler and Whaley write; “Our daily actions toward all people, believers and non-believer should reflect a commitment to life style worship evangelism.” The size of our churches and budgets due not matter in winning souls for Christ. We must understand that if people know that we love God and love them we then can have a great opportunity to share the gospel. The authors write; “worship and witness are best demonstrated in how we react to, reach out to, treat, manage, talk with and pray for people.”