2020 has begun, and there is a lot of excitement and buzz as the New Year begins. You have been, or are in the process of, having team meetings, prayer gatherings, vision casting. You are excited to see what the Lord will do. Then, too soon, come the frustrations, joy, tears, conflicts, attacks, victories, adjusting to changes, staff coming on board, team members moving on, volunteers joining, volunteers leaving and the list could go on.
In moments like these, we need to be reminded that—no matter what happens—only the good news of the gospel can steady our hearts, hands and wills.
We need to be reminded that—no matter what happens—only the good news of the gospel can steady our hearts, hands and wills
So Pastors. Here is a reminder for you and me.
You and I were alienated from God. Our posture was one of self-defiance and rebellion. Yet God in his mercy and loving-kindness, came after us, despite what we have done. He pursued us through Jesus his Son.
Jesus…
- the one who has always existed;
- the one in whom the Father is pleased;
- the one who lives the perfect life we can’t, yet who understands the joy, trial, heartache and resistance of service.
- the one whose focus and desire were always to do what matters most—to live a life pleasing to his Father.
- the one who goes on doing that even when it means the most unimagineable pain and suffering; who says “not my will but yours be done.”
- the one who reminds us to rejoice that our names are written in heaven!
This is the Jesus who goes to the cross on for you and me. He dies. He cries It Is finished.
Oh, Pastor! Considers that for a moment. Don’t move too quickly from it. Be captured again by the depths of God’s mercy and grace to you and me.
Even that should be enough to stop us in our tracks—even if it finished there.
But in 3 days, Jesus rises in a renewed body—the firstborn from the dead—declaring that a new dawn has risen.
And now, as the conqueror of sin and death, he commissions all who believe in him to join in his mission; to pursue the rebellious, the lost, the apathetic. He sends the Helper—his Holy Spirit—to live in us and works through us as we lead, preach, shepherd, rebuke, encourage, call, weep and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Fellow Pastor, is this not why you and I took this role? Because of Jesus Our Gracious Lord?
As conqueror of sin and death, he commissions all who believe in him to join in his mission … He sends the Helper—his Holy Spirit—to live in us and works through us
Come, visionary Pastor!
Come weary Pastor!
Come back to the good news of the Gospel. It is a fuel for our fire that will serve us in every season. It is the excellent news that will lift our eyes and give us an eternal view of why we do what we do. It will point us toward the great promise of our future.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7:9-10)
