Could the next pastor of your local church come right out of your own congregation?
Pastor, who are you preparing to follow you in ministry?
Are you training men to preach and to lead now and in the future (Matthew 28:16-20; Ephesians 4:11-16; and 2 Timothy 2:2)?
After COVID, the church where I serve became even more intentional about this task. With our current senior pastor’s leadership, we developed small groups that have continued to meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays in various homes around our area.
Eleven months out of the year, the small group leaders gather for an evening of training. Last year our leaders read Robby Gallaty’s book, Preaching for the Rest of Us: Essentials for Text-Driven Preaching. This was a helpful, practical, and insightful read and discussion.
This year of 2024, all the small group leaders who are willing have prepared a sermon to preach on Sunday night. These men have studied with ample time to prepare.
Last night I listened to a faithful servant (60 years old) preach the text and make application. You could certainly tell that he had studied and prepared his heart through prayer. His transparency through personal life illustrations was refreshing, engaging and at times humorous. He was faithful . . . which was one of his main points.
This exercise will certainly help him as he continues to minister at the jail on Sunday nights and lead his small group each week.
What does the Lord have for him in the future? Right now he is asking God to lead him as he prepares for a new season of life, one that I am sure will be lived for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).
The Apostle Paul spoke of Timothy as in a father-son relationship as recorded in Philippians 2:20-22, I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
Who are you mentoring to serve with you and perhaps after you in “the work of the gospel”?
Note: Please check out the recent post, Mentoring the Next Pastor
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