Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #3

Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #3

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

Equipping by Educating and by Example (II Timothy 3:16-17)
II Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Read the following Scriptures.

I Timothy 3:2, “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach…”

II Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

II Timothy 2:24, “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient…”

Titus 2:1, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine…”

I Peter 5:1-2, “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind…”

1. Equip by (Educating) Teaching
A pastor’s ministry is equipping others in his teaching and his life. We encounter the formula in Paul’s instruction to Timothy in I Timothy 4:16, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” One of the many blessings of having a pastor is that if you’re struggling to understand the Bible, or how to handle a tough life situation, you know you can ask him for help and you’ll get a Biblical answer. You trust that when he opens the Bible he doesn’t just pull something out from it. He provides you with a faithful understanding of it. In Titus 2:1, Paul teaches, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine…” As a minister of God, I must tell you that Scripture will perfect or mature you and equip you to do every good work. You were made for God, therefore, you must live by the Word of God. The Holy Spirit comes upon you as an equipping power. The major purpose for His coming is to equip you to carry out your task for God. You must edify and build up believers and equip them to do the work of the ministry.

As a minister, my task is to equip believers to do the work of the ministry. The word "perfecting" means to equip for service and ministry. As a pastor, my primary task is to be an equipper, a person who makes disciples and prepares others to serve Christ. The very purpose for equipping servants is so that the body of Christ, the church, may be built up. The church cannot be built up without the members themselves doing the work of the ministry. All believers within a church should be involved in the work of the ministry. When pastors teach, the congregation begins to serve and do good works.

As a pastor, I must strive to bring about a perfect unity among God's people.
The pastor is called . . .
· to bring peace and reconciliation to the church.
· to lead people into perfect harmony and oneness of spirit.
· to shepherd people out of cliques, and from divisiveness, murmuring, grumbling, griping, and all the other sins that work against a perfect unity.

2. Equipping by Setting an Example
Pastors not only teach, we must set an example for the flock in our lives. The best way a pastor can teach the flock is by his living example. I Peter 5:3, “Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. As a pastor, I must be an example of the believers.”

I Timothy 4:12, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
1) In word
2) In conversation
3) In charity
4) In spirit
5) In faith
6) In purity
You will either be an example to be looked up to, or you will need an example to look up to.

As pastor, I am to be a pattern, an example, to all believers of good works in doctrine and teaching:
1) in proclaiming a pure doctrine.
2) in proclaiming the message sincerely and with dignity.
3) in proclaiming the message with sound words.

The pastor is to be the first and foremost example of God's longsuffering and mercy to the flock of God. You are to set an example in all good works and in keeping the message of God uncorrupted.

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