Leadership in the Church

Today in my Pastoral Ministry class we will be discussing 1 Thess 5:12-13, which is a significant passage on the duties of pastors to congregation and congregation to pastors. Some seek to evade the language of authority in this text, but that is misguided. I think it reveals our discomfort with the idea of authority- …

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Pastors as Fathers, Caring for Each Member

Commenting on Paul’s statement that he cared for the Thessalonians as a father (1 Thess 2:11), Calvin articulates an important aspect of pastoral ministry. unquestionably, no one will ever be a good pastor, unless he shows himself to be a  father to the Church that is committed to him. Nor does he merely declare himself …

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Ordination sermon from 1 Thess 2:1-3:10

I was honored last week to preach the ordination sermon for Corey Cummings, a former student. I recently posted his prayer of dedication. The audio of the sermon has now been posted as well. I took up 1 Thessalonians 2:1-3:10 where Paul describes his ministry among the Thessalonians, using his practice as an example of …

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Pastoral Ministry: Hard Work for the Salvation of Souls and the Restoration of the World

Calvin commenting on 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 states well the importance of hard work in pastoral ministry and what our work actually is. In the first place, he says that they labor. From this it follows, that all idle bellies are excluded from the number of pastors. Farther, he expresses the kind of labor when he …

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1 Thess 5:12-13 on Pastoral Ministry

This passage is an important one for understanding pastoral ministry biblically. It is addressed to the congregation and calls for them to respect and “esteem highly in love” their pastors. These pastors in turn are expected to do three things: – labor among them- work hard in their midst – to “be over them in …

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