Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #19 - The Passionate Pastor

Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #19

October is Pastor Appreciation Month.
Take time today to express to your pastor how much he means to you.

The Passionate Pastor (John 21:15-17)
John 21:15-17, “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

A God called Pastor will have a deep love for the church and its members.

1. Pastor
The pastor knows that the call to pastor is a full-time calling and that there is a huge difference in being a pastor and filling a pulpit.

2. Preaching
The pastor’s call consists of regularly feeding God’s people with the Word. A balanced diet of Biblical truth must be proclaimed from the pulpit of a healthy church. The pastor loves his flock well when he preaches Jesus Christ to them and persistently, prayerfully, and passionately points them away from the world and towards Jesus Christ. If a pastor fails to preach the Word of God to them, they will die spiritually. So, every faithful pastor must preach Christ to His people relentlessly.

3. Prayers
A pastor must be a man of consistent and fervent prayer. He must spend time alone with the Lord. Perhaps the greatest benefit we have in our walk with the Lord is prayer. Prayer is the most important thing we do because prayer can do anything God can do! Laziness is probably the greatest reason why we do not pray. Fervent prayer is hard work, and our flesh doesn’t like the sacrifice involved.

4. Protection
A pastor knows the dangers of our adversary, the devil. He knows that once he steps out the grievous wolves with attack the flock. He leads and guides God’s flock by warning them of the dangers of Satan, false prophets, and false teachers. He will teach then the truth of the Word of God so that when a counterfeit approaches them they can spot the counterfeit because they are already familiar with the truth.

5. Progressions
A faithful pastor loves his people and shows this by teaching them the Word of God. God has given the pastor the opportunity to be an influence in the lives of others. The pastor takes personal interest in the lives of those he teaches. He looks for faithful people who desire to grow and he holds nothing back in sharing his heart with them, ministering the Word to them, holding one another accountable, and equipping in practical godliness, family-worship, and church-related matters. The pastor knows that the church will never rise above the spiritual maturity of the male leadership, so he gives himself happily and regularly to the training and shepherding of other men through instruction, example, and prayer.

6. Practice
A pastor understands the power of example. He knows and understands the importance of what is written in the Word of God, spoken from the house of God, needs to be lived in the man of God. He cannot preach one thing in the pulpit and unpreach what he has just said through his sinful conduct. A shepherd says to the sheep, “follow me as I follow Christ”. There must be a model of godliness and an example of the pursuit of Christ that the flock can find in their pastor.

7. Perfecting
A pastor loves his flock well by teaching, leading, bringing, and going out with his people in evangelizing. One way a pastor declares his love for the people is by teaching them to evangelize and taking them out to evangelize.

8. Pouring
A pastor knows that as newborn babes in Christ, the flock of God will grow and mature through a faithful feeding of God’s Word. Pastors bring Scripture to the people knowing that it is the food by which the people of God live. Speaking the truth in love constantly characterizes his daily ministry. He speaks the Word. He encourages in the Word. He guides and counsels from the Word. He prays the Word. He reproves and exhorts with the Word. He directs the people of God to the Scripture, so they rest upon the unchanging and unfailing truth of God.

9. Praising
A pastor points the hearts and affections of the people of God to the glory of God. He knows the path to true joy is when the people of God live to magnify the Lord.

10. Passion
The pastor’s heart should be overflowing with affection for his people. He cares for them by communicating with them, ministering to their needs, speaking truth to them in love, encouraging them in Christ, reminding them of their union with Christ and the future hope of the coming and immediate presence of Christ.

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