He wanted to be with his people. So what is it that marks the heart of a pastor? Expect it, that's how it is. He strengthened. I want you to stay strong and firm and true so I'm sending Timothy to do that. Somewhere else calls and you have to send your best. They can preach it all they want, it won't change anything, it isn't reality. Both walk in the miraculous and supernatural and love to share what they know with anyone wanting to grow in Christ. Log In What goes through the heart and mind of a pastor? Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10, you can expect that the pupil will be like his teacher, the servant will be like his master. I don't want any of you going through this, being...going back and forth, back and forth. It is a strong compulsion to nurture and to protect and to perfect believers facing very serious difficulty, distress in their spiritual infancy. Now Paul says I came to the city of Troas and a door was opened to me, I had come there to preach the gospel, the door was wide open. Not me, not me, I was in Athens. Because listen, folks, it's very simple. In Acts 17 they're in Thessalonica. That is deep affection. They were waiting for the Second Coming. He said, "I just have to preach, it's just burning in my heart." Series: ... A heart without Christ is unclean, unacceptable to God, a heart’s condition will be clearly evidenced by the way a life is lived. "All that will live godly in this present age will suffer persecution." Paul, Silas, Timothy then left Thessalonica. But from the start he trusted him and he respected him. That's what sacrifice is all about, it's all about giving your best. And thus he was carrying a very heavy burden. Timothy certainly learned it from him, even though he wasn't in the scene here. A pastor’s heart is Tender and listens to the Spirit’s call. Josh Swarts. In other words, I want your faith in God to be strong, to be established, to be firm, to be solid, to be unwavering. If you are strong in your faith in God and Christ, then you have a foundation by which you can live your life. He was so burdened about Titus he said, "I can't stay, I have no peace," and he started back toward Macedonia on the Egnatian Highway, hoping along the road to bump into Titus, not even knowing where he was, so concerned was he about Titus' spiritual situation. The Heart of a Great Pastor salutes pastors everywhere – those wanting to take a fresh look at their ministries, as well as those just starting out. This tells me that when Paul went there and preached the gospel, he preached a gospel of eternal peace and temporal trouble. II. I don't want that to happen. © 2021 Grace to You. We come back to this third chapter which I've entitled 'The Pastor's Heart… Strong affection will always lead to unselfishness. My concern is that you be strong in your knowledge, that you understand God, you understand Christ, you understand the truth of both and that you then go to live your life, face your trials, face your difficulties in the strength of that understanding. Register. Chapter 3 of 2 Thessalonians he said, "I know the Lord is faithful and He'll strengthen and protect you from the evil one." made with Faithlife Proclaim. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. Whatever it is that we have, if we function with a pastor's heart, we gladly give it to meet the need of the people for whom we have affection. The heart of a pastor is a thing of wonder. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. Something inside me wants to say preachers either have hearts of a pastor or they do not. The Heart of a Pastor. This chapter does not tell us what a pastor is. … A Deep Love for the Word Of God. And then I can be encouraged to make application of those things I know. Obviously. Father, we're reminded of Jeremiah 3:15, where You said, "Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart who will feed you on knowledge and understanding." People are going to have trouble. When he got to Corinth, Timothy came back to him and Silas came back to him. This is what we're all about. “Strengthening the churches." You say, "Well maybe that didn't leave him alone, maybe that left Silas there." So Timothy is pretty new. You say, "How does that connect with a dog wagging his tail?" Pointing out that the human heart is a battle-ground between God and the devil who vie for our worship, devotion, and affection, Pastor Choi exhorts the people of God to take good care of their hearts by asking for God’s help. Paul was alone in Athens for a while. So he sent Timothy, the best, the very best, gave his best gift, his dearest friend, his companion, though it meant hardship, personal loneliness, and exposure for him. It is passionate zeal for spiritual welfare, passionate zeal for spiritual welfare. “Who hurts and I don't feel the pain?”  That's what he said in 2 Corinthians 11:29, "I feel it, I identify with you, I don't want anybody to be disturbed." And now we're really getting in touch with it because what a man feels is the purest, truest part of him. So we don't really lose anything here because they're separated, rather we may gain something. Strong evangelical churches have core values that they hold dear, and yet a new pastor can bring new vision. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content. Samuel says that God looks on the heart. But what does it mean to have the heart of a pastor? For the sake of someone else, he would gladly give up the best that he has. In John 10:14 and 15 Jesus said, "I know My sheep, My sheep know Me and I lay down My life for My sheep." Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. Christ made an unbelievable sacrifice in dying for us. tribulation, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Then you can be encouraged to live in the light of it. He felt encouraged by them. "Therefore, when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone. Right on the heels of that comes a second element of a pastor's heart, if we're to define a pastor's heart, the second element would be unselfishness toward his people, unselfishness. Yet the deep trust had developed, a deep confidence, a settled confidence. It is an experience that such a pastor will never forget. He probably feels more intense in the separation than he might have felt in the proximity. In the words of Job, “ 5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: But now mine eye seeth thee” (Job 42:5) With the heart of a shepherd, Pastor Travis D. Smith In 2 Corinthians 2:13, this is a very interesting statement, to understand it we back up to verse 12. He's not trying to accumulate a following for his own self-glory. We see his heart. They knew right off the bat it was inevitable. It's all going to come. He joined Paul in Acts 16. It means to wag and it was used of a dog wagging his tail. They were still young in the faith. You're appointed to it. Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, is faithful and true. In Acts chapter 14 verse 21, "After they preached the gospel to that city (Derbe) and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and to Antioch." This is compassion, this is where the compassion comes. This is a man of affection and, listen, this is essential to the pastorate. Trouble, that's inevitable. To God be the glory! "When I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened to me in the Lord." Better knowledge of the Word, better knowledge of God, better knowledge of Christ, greater understanding produces greater confidence and allows you to be encouraged through your trials by leaning on the ones you know and the ones you trust. He didn't have anything worth value in terms of economics, monetary value. I am experiencing a strange sermon prep situation… I have been a pastor now for about 5 1/2 years. In other words, when I look at people in the church who are weak, I feel weak. Simple principle. They were really a noble bunch. He dispatched Timothy a lot of places. You can always tell whether somebody cares about you by what they'll sacrifice to meet your need, right? Whose faith is wounded and I don't feel the pain? Lasting change occurs in the heart, but it starts with our habits. He was reared in a knowledge of the Scriptures (2 Tim. Some people think he's supposed to entertain them. Camaraderie through heavy trials tends to make real brothers. But apart from that, we can't really feel what the Spirit of God wants to communicate. And so he commends Timothy not only for his relationship to himself as his brother but for his relationship to God as God's fellow worker, God's servant, if you will, either one. He's not trying to line his pockets. And not only that, you have enough trouble just being fallen in a fallen world, now you're going to have trouble from the other fallen people in the fallen world who don't like what you claim in Christ. And he said, "I'm ready to go." But the other side of it is, get ready cause it's all going to come. Paul and Silas and Timothy had come to Thessalonica in Acts 17. And in Acts 17 it says he went to Athens by himself. How did they do it? Make one line of the men that dominated their women on earth, and the other of men who were dominated by their women. A pastor’s heart is Sacrificial and for his sheep will give its all. Paul was the one who did this. The word "strengthen" means to support or establish, it's the idea of buttressing something, to support it. Something inside me wants to say preachers either have hearts of a pastor or they do not. The matter of what a pastor says, he has already reminded them of. As the baton is passed to the “new breed of pastors,” there is a great need to help them count the cost of serving Christ and equip them with the tools, wisdom and encouragement from those who have gone before … And that was Paul. We offer 30,000+ outlines and 10,000+ free sermon illustrations from top Christian pastors and communicators. Deliver me, Lord, from ever being under somebody who thinks life ought to be without trouble. Let's open our Bibles for the study of God's precious Word to us this morning, to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Peter says, "After you've suffered a while the Lord will make you perfect." The following prayer is in preparation to preach the Word of the Lord from Mark 12:28-34. We are responsible as pastors and elders and overseers and spiritual leaders to have affection for our people and to be burdened and concerned about their particular spiritual needs. We find that in verse 2. It doesn’t matter what a church or board pays their pastor if their heart attitude is wrong. I don't want you to be disturbed by these afflictions. And, of course, if you know anything about Paul and you read through the New Testament, there is a warm pathos that shows up again and again and again as he affectionately talks about his Christian companions, how precious they are to him, how much they mean to him, how he longs to be with them, or to have them come and be with him. Obviously that would flow out of his affection and we see it with Paul. Then he comes to verse 28 and says, "On top of that, all of that stuff, apart from such external things there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches." Over that time I have written many sermons (not including the ones I wrote during my year of internship) for Sunday worship, funerals, weddings, holidays, Lent, etc. ", Now here Paul sort of gives some feet to his affection and he unselfishly sends Timothy. It was inevitable that it was going to come, we told you it was going to come, but when it comes I don't want you to start moving around and being beguiled. Now let me just say this as well. He wrote to the Romans in chapter 1 verse 11, "I want to come to you and I want to impart some spiritual gift to you that you might be strengthened," Romans 1:11, or “you might be established” or “firmly grounded." Planning to go with Saint Peter, and applied it. and Christ rejecters still in progress, the of... 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