Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-19
Focus
Verse 1 Thessalonians 5:12 “Dear brothers and sisters, honor those
who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and
give you spiritual guidance.”
It has been said that hundreds of
pastors leave the ministry every month. They walk away from their
churches for different reasons. Some may just be ready to retire, but could another be because they are not getting encouragement from the membership? Is there more of a critical spirit or a spurring on?
Paul says we are to honor those in spiritual leadership over us. We
know that Christ is the head of the church, but the pastor is appointed
by God to feed the church, pray for the church, and lead the church.
God is pleased when we support and encourage our spiritual leaders. I
don’t have to tell you that your pastor is not perfect. The only
perfect person on this earth was Jesus. In spite of your pastor’s
faults, he needs your encouragement. Pastoring a church is not an easy
task. It takes a lot of patience to deal with all the different
personalities within a church. So as Paul has instructed us let’s honor
those in spiritual leadership over us, and let them know we are
supporting them. They will appreciate it, and your encouragement will
enable them to do their job for The Lord better.
Our missions pastor, Will Gatling, has served our church for over 30 years, some of those years were serving as associate pastor. He has been a faithful pastor and we are so thankful for the guidance, teaching and leading our church to reach out with the Gospel. Our church will honor him for his faithfulness. This is good, but we should not wait for someone to retire before honoring them with words of encouragement.
Bobby & Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
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