Dear Fellow Children of God,
In worship on Wednesday night I shared with those
worshiping that I was somewhat drained.
This was not a physical weariness. Actually summer is a time I usually recharge. But, in the first 3 days of this week I had
been called five times to situations of urgency or emergency. When a pastor cares about the people they serve,
pastors can also grow weary as they share struggles with those they pastor. I confess to being somewhat emotional in
worship on Wednesday night as my concern for church members and friends had mounted
up.
I have often preached at the ordination or installation
of new pastors. One of the verses I have
often shared, because this verse speaks to me, is Acts 20:28. In this verse Paul is on his way to Jerusalem
and stops in Ephesus. He meets on the
beach with the leaders and elders of the Ephesian church. Paul warns them of coming trouble, and gives
the leaders some advice that he himself has learned through experience. “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of
God, which he bought with his own blood.”
In other words, in order to take care of others and help
them with their lives of faith, a pastor needs to be healthy himself. Please notice, the elders are first told, “Keep
watch over yourselves.” AFTER
being encouraged to take care of themselves, THEN they are taught to “Keep
watch over . . . all the flock.”
So, on
Thursday morning, as I was spending time in devotions, the prayer in my devotions
from Philip Melancthon touched my heart.
Melanthon was a New Testament professor in Wittenberg, Germany in the
1500’s and a partner of Martin Luther in the Reformation. His prayer was a confession of sin and
weakness, and also a prayer for personal health and growth.
O Almighty, Eternal God
of Truth . . . I confess and I am deeply sorry that I am sinful and have so
often sinned against Thee. I implore
Thee to forgive me all my sins, be gracious unto me, and justify me for thy
beloved Son’s sake, whom thou doest decree to be our Redeemer. With
thy Holy Spirit purify my heart and guide my soul that I may truly know,
love, and serve Thee.
Amen.
Personally,
I do pray that I grow in knowledge and love for Jesus so that I can serve Him
faithfully. This is actually a good
prescription for Christian faith and life.
First, we want to know the amazing, undeserved, gracious and sacrificial
love of Jesus. When we know our failure
and sin, the sacrificial love of Jesus that caused Him to die for us is unexpected
and surprisingly good news. Knowing I don’t deserve God’s love, but
Jesus sacrifices for me, creates love
in my heart for the one who has loved me so amazingly. Love in one’s heart leads to action in one’s
lives, so I pray that my love for God leads to actions of serving Him willingly.
In other
words, my prayer is that my faith is healthy so that I can serve my Savior. I
pray that my faith and heart are healthy so that, as a Christian and a pastor,
I can help others.
Pastors
are not the only ones to need a healthy faith. All Christians need to KNOW the love of God, so
that in return they LOVE our gracious Savior, so that they SERVE God and His
people willingly from the heart. But,
before we can serve others, we need a healthy faith ourselves.
Please
pray with me. With thy Holy Spirit purify my
heart and guide my soul that I may truly know, love, and serve
Thee. Amen.
A Child of
God, Seeking A Healthy Faith so that I May Serve My Lord and His People,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. One of those
for whom my heart has been tender this week is Bjorn Richard David Neslund,
infant son of David and Kristine Neslund.
Bjorn was born on Monday at Providence Hospital at 23 weeks and 2 days
of pregnancy. Actually, in response to
the prayers of many, Bjorn is doing quite well at this time. Here is a picture from the baptism of Bjorn on
Wednesday afternoon. https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/BaptismsWinterSpring2015#6190563656442505618
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ABOUT
‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages,
hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I
have. (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you
are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.) However, if you don’t
want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your
name off my list for this message.
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