A few weeks ago I did a series of posts on the weight that pastors carry. I thought this week I would focus on the joy of pastoring, as there are many.
Joy #4: Communicating God’s Word
While this is a weight that pastors carry, this is also a joy.
To have the ability to open God’s word and share it with others is a huge joy. To have people come to hear what God is saying through his word and you, is unbelievable. It is humbling, holy and scary all at the same time. For me, because teaching is one of my top gifts, I love being able to preach every week.
I love to see the work that I have put in, the time I have labored on a talk to see the way God chooses to use it. It is something that is difficult to describe. It goes back to God using us.
For me, a sermon starts about 6 – 8 months before I preach it. I lay out where I feel God is taking our church over the coming year and begin meditating on those passages, researching, finding articles, books and commentaries to see what others have to say on those topics. By the time I get up to preach something, I have been sitting with that topic for quite some time. I am always blown away at how, even though we plan in advance, our church seems to be in the place where what I’m preaching on is what they need. Countless times, God has shown up where we are going through what I’m preaching on. I used to be surprised.
By far, this is more work, but at the same time, it is so worth the work. To be a part of God’s work in the world in this way makes what I do worth it.
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