November 18, 2019
1 Thessalonians 1:8-12
The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
New International Version (NIV)
                What is a pastor like?  One writer said he would have become a minister but the ones he knew were so morose they reminded him of the old stereotypical “undertaker” or mortician, unsmiling and painfully somber.  A friend from another country said his pastor had grown big with his mega-church.  He no longer opens his car door because he has someone to do that.  Doesn’t that sound absurd?  Jesus came not to be served but to serve and give his life, but some of his servants have become big with their churches.

                The word pastor comes from a Latin word for shepherd.  Shepherds in the Bible are not much like modern CEO’s.  They don’t stand around telling others what to do.  They lead and they feed.  But mostly they care.  They are not just designated preachers who walk in, speak and walk out.

                Paul didn’t have a long tenure as pastor in Thessalonica.  The locals ran him out of town after a few weeks.  But he started a church there.  His metaphors for describing the new life of the church are interesting.  “Like a nursing mother . . . we gave you not only the gospel but our lives as well.”  Can we really share the good news that Jesus is the great King without also sharing our lives, too?  Do people ever care how much we know until they know how much we care?  Again, Paul says, “As a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging.”

                These family metaphors tell us something important about the church.  Our whole ministry is built on the idea of caring for each other within a family.  Pastors are not brands of churches.  We do not market ourselves as glittering master-pastors.  As servants of the one who washed his disciples’ feet, we not only open our own doors, but we open doors for others into God’s family.  “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord . . .”
Pray with me:      
Father, thank you for those who have shepherded us.  Make your church good at caring for and curing souls.  Thank you for hospitals where they treat our bodies, and schools which help educate our minds.  Lord, let us be the people who care so much we share our lives as well as our message.  Thank you for the church which has become our family.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.   
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
About Duane Archives
 Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved.
Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
555 Tallowood Road
Houston, TX | 77024 US
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
Subscribe to our email list.