Service

wrenches in a red toolbox

Ministering to People in Times of Trial

By Dr. R. B. Ouellette, Thursday, May 25, 2023
One of the great privileges of the pastor is to shepherd church members through difficult seasons. What can you do as a pastor to help and encourage?

One of the great privileges of the pastor is to shepherd church members through difficult seasons. What can you do as a pastor to help and encourage? 

1. Point them to the Lord. We can and should pray for people. We can and should encourage them. We can and should share biblical truth with them. But their primary relationship is not with us but with the Lord. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).

Category
Pastoral Leadership

Are You a Servant Leader or Simply a Ministry Manager?

By Dr. Paul Chappell, Monday, June 2, 2014
4 Ways a Spiritual Leader Serves Those He Is Leading
Leadership—especially spiritual leadership—involves shepherding people. It involves connecting hearts with the life-changing truths of God’s Word. This requires a Spirit-filled leader with a heart large enough for people. It requires a leader who sees management as necessary to leadership but not defining of leadership.
Category
Pastoral Leadership

3 Phrases That Should Describe Our Service for God

By Dr. Paul Chappell, Monday, May 19, 2014
God Is Looking For Faithful Servants
It’s hard to believe that we are already entering another summer season of ministry. Depending on your occupation and age, the word summer likely holds varying connotations for you. If you are a student, it means vacation! If you are a teacher, it means preparation. If you are a farmer, it means work.
Category
Christian Living

3 Ways to Determine If You Are a Giver or a Taker in Ministry

By Dr. Paul Chappell, Monday, January 27, 2014
Servants Are Not Concerned about What They Get
You’ve heard it said: In life there are two groups of people—givers and takers. The titles are self explanatory: givers invest, and takers seek to be invested in. Every Christian should be a giver, but those in the ministry should especially be givers. We should be investing our lives in others.
Category
Pastoral Leadership

When I Do X

By Dr. Paul Chappell, Monday, August 5, 2013
Are You Serving God for the Right Reasons?
One of the most seductive traps into fleshly ministry is the belief that we must gain God’s acceptance by our accomplishments. The accomplishments might even be spiritual goals—winning souls, building a Sunday school class, raising godly children. But if we undertake them to gain the Father’s acceptance, we’re working in the flesh and missing the joy of the acceptance provided through Christ.
Category
Pastoral Leadership

Being Excited about the Things of God

By Stephen Benefield, Friday, March 29, 2013
Don’t Forget the Joy of Serving God
One of my favorite things about serving the Lord as a missionary in a country that does not have a Christian heritage is that virtually everything in the Bible is new to the people. Sadly, many Christians who grew up with the Bible eventually get bored with the Bible. I don’t think it has to be that way, but oftentimes it is.
Category
Christian Living

Kevin’s Letter—What Happens When We Make Room

By Dr. Paul Chappell, Monday, December 24, 2012
Don’t Miss Opportunities to Serve
The story is told of a struggling community who called an open town meeting to discuss their financial straits. Included in the group of a couple dozen people at the meeting was a stranger. No one knew him, and no one paid him any attention. In fact, once when he tried to speak up, he was interrupted as the townspeople continued to hash out possible solutions. Soon the stranger left.
Category
Christian Living

Church of Today

By Kurt Skelly, Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Encouraging Students To Serve
I am uncomfortable with the expression that teenagers are the “church of tomorrow.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure well meaning people imply by those words that teenagers will one day be the adults that populate our churches and serve as leaders in our ministries.
Category
Student Ministry
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