What he did have and what was so precious to him were his friends. Conclusion Now, though the circumstances of Paul and the Thessalonians are unique as far as pastor and people go because there's a forced separation, in no way does that minimize his pastor's heart. Deliver me, Lord, from ever being under somebody who thinks life ought to be without trouble. III. 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 reared in a knowledge of the Scriptures (2 Tim. So we don't really lose anything here because they're separated, rather we may gain something. He says, I...I want Timothy to come and strengthen and encourage you to do more of what you're doing, to grow stronger. That's the heart of the pastor. Affection for the people, unselfishness toward the people. Now he's not saying, "I want to strengthen and encourage you in any other specific" than in your faith. A pastor thinks differently when he reads his Bible. Acts 20:28 says, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which the he hath purchased with his own blood.”. We're called to this. The pastor is paid by the church (we really appreciate that, by the way. Jesus said, "That they treated Me this way, do you think they'll treat you any different?" The Lord’s Day; Liturgical Worship; Doctrine; Leadership; Library . It's not enough to know what they do and what they say, and it might not even be enough to know what they are in terms of the character of their function, you must know what's inside. You can always tell whether somebody cares about you by what they'll sacrifice to meet your need, right? 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. He taught his followers to do it. That is no different as we approach chapter 3. You have to be unselfish. And when weeks had passed with no news about Titus, he was burdened for his beloved friend. And if they do not, they should reject every invitation from search committees to become pastors because it’s a perfect set-up for disappointment on his part and disaster on theirs. Let's read the first ten verses of chapter 3 and start to look into Paul's heart. Those of you who have been in this study with us, faithfully attending on the Lord's Day, as you should, know that Paul has been telling us a lot about his own ministry. What we mean by that initially is he has affection for his people. I found this quote by Richard Cecil in describing the heart of John Newton. II. Now you're getting in touch with his feelings. Let me give you a third point this morning, we'll finish the rest next time. He wanted strong believers. Donate A pastor’s heart is Tender and listens to the Spirit’s call. Now the point of all of that is simply to say, here was a man who made a significant sacrifice because he cared. Chapter 18 verse 23, "He departed and passed successfully through the Galatian region in Phrygia," and what was he doing? The more I know about God through His revelation, the more I know about Christ, the more that is deeply imbedded in my heart, the stronger, more resolute and unwavering my confidence in Him will be. In an age of ear-tickling pulpits (2 Tim 4:3-4), few things are … He's not trying to build his kingdom, not at all. He is a true pastor. And that's exactly the sense in which I mean it. But there is at least this much known, that after his leaving, some detractors had come and begun to attack his integrity. The true shepherd will give his best. It means to wag and it was used of a dog wagging his tail. I feel your pain. So it's a serious kind of separation. And then in chapter 2 and verse 13 we note again that he constantly thanked God about their response to the Word of God. “We sent Timothy.”. He had a strong affection for them. And we sent Timothy, our brother, and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. He wanted to be with his people. And the word sort of went through an etymology and finally meant to allure, to fascinate, to flatter, to beguile. Now again, we must recognize that his affection for his people is not a...an emotional sentiment. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10, you can expect that the pupil will be like his teacher, the servant will be like his master. During their 20-year relationship the apostle had discipled Timothy and all during that 20-year relationship, that young man, Timothy, was the man to whom Paul would give his mantle. You preach that stuff to people that Jesus will make you trouble free and then they have trouble and they're going to question whether Jesus can do anything. Tags: Heart, Pastors, Church leaders He dispatched Timothy a lot of places. A true pastor is a man who loves deeply. I needed some help. So I've got to get Timothy there to get you strong. They knew right off the bat it was inevitable. We find that in verse 2. I don't want that to happen. That's affection. First Corinthians chapter 4, he was so concerned about the Corinthian church he said, "I'm going to send you Timothy. Twice he says in this chapter, "I couldn't endure it, I couldn't bear it, I couldn't handle it. Why? To the Philippian church, chapter 2 he says in verse 19, "I hope to send Timothy to you." And though he was having his own trials, which we shall see later in the chapter, and enduring his own difficulties and hostilities, he was much less concerned about himself than he was about his beloved children in the faith, and that demonstrates his affection. Chapter 3 of 2 Thessalonians he said, "I know the Lord is faithful and He'll strengthen and protect you from the evil one." They were his crown of rejoicing. The following prayer is in preparation to preach the Word of the Lord from Mark 12:28-34. However, finding fresh ideas for sermons … They went back to the places where they had been, Paul and his entourage, Barnabas, went back. Who is offended, he says, and I'm not feeling it? Robert Morris (January-05-2021) It's All About The Heart. Home ... about things you can do to turbo-charge your spiritual life—to bring an added intensity to your relationship with God. We must develop those qualities that are worth having in our lives. If a pastor doesn’t love to plunge into the Scriptures, he … Thank You for how instructive they are to me, how convicting they are to me. Samuel says that God looks on the heart. But the other side of it is, get ready cause it's all going to come. Jesus loved His sheep. That is why, if people don't respond properly in the church, you have such a burden, Hebrews 13:17 says, if the people don't cooperate, you will do your work with grief. You say, "Well why does he sort of reduce it to that?" He says, "These afflictions,” these pressures, these tests of faith. '. Make one line of the men that dominated their women on earth, and the other of men who were dominated by their women. He's involved in extending the gospel. Week to week, you create sermons to connect your church with God’s Word and to disciple them to a closer relationship with Him. Jesus said it, didn't He? Empathy, sympathy, that's affection. And looking at our text again in chapter 3, we read that Paul said, "When we could endure it no longer because of affection, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ. God's servant, diakonos, would mean God's servant, God's minister, and surely he was that. See, that's pastoral care, to strengthen people. For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account? And he was a very treasured friend. Well, because when a dog comes up and wags his tail it is usually trying to draw attention to itself because it wants something. To be alone in a pagan society, to be alone to try to confront the intellectual capital of the world with all of its cynicism is a very difficult task. He felt encouraged by them. Pastors need to speak to the heart and needs of all of these different people to be effective. Let's go a step above Paul and look at an even better model, Jesus said, "Blessed are you when all men revile you, persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake." Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. And in order to do that, you have to care about that. Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, is faithful and true. You say, "Boy, that's great, he'll go through it and preach." So he not only was thankful in his feelings but he was also hopeful, he was encouraged because of what he had heard. You know, they say if you want to really know someone, you have to know what they feel. Some say the pastor provides for the church by running programs. Verse 3, why did he feel it so deeply? What determines whether their heart is right or wrong But taking my leave of them I went on to Macedonia." It's kind of a singular use of "we" which is not uncommon. And, in fact, the matter of what a pastor does, he has already referred to in the first two chapters. They can preach it all they want, it won't change anything, it isn't reality. That's the sum of integrity. All that moved Paul to do what he did. Worship . This flows out of that affection and that unselfishness. God gave us the best gift, even Jesus Christ. You say, "How does that connect with a dog wagging his tail?" 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." You know you love somebody when you feel their pain, right? We've talked about practicing the discipline of silence and solitude, making your soul quiet in the presence of God so that you can hear his voice. That was really his heart. He is no self-seeking false teacher. When they sinned he felt the pain. For the sake of someone else, he would gladly give up the best that he has. "And not think that it's a sign that he's on the wrong track and taken by surprise by it." 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. 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 He's going to give you more of the Word, more of the truth, tell you about God, tell you about Christ so that you'll have confidence and trust. August 30, 2015 / The Pastor. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. Timothy certainly learned it from him, even though he wasn't in the scene here. They had endured some persecution. Sermons The pastor's heart is a heart that has affection for his people, the heart that is unselfish toward his people, a heart that has compassion for the trouble of his people. Sermons. When he got to Corinth, Timothy came back to him and Silas came back to him. In fact, as I was reading through this chapter and contemplating it, it was very clear to me that if we were going to give a title to this particular chapter, we would call it "The Pastor's Heart,” “The Pastor's heart.". They had turned to God from idols. 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. How did they do it? The heart of a pastor is a thing of wonder. The reason we say it has to be singular is because he says, "We thought it best to be left alone at Athens," so he's really referring to himself as being alone. We offer 30,000+ outlines and 10,000+ free sermon illustrations from top Christian pastors and communicators. He said, "I'm ready to preach. This means that the more clearly we embrace love-based God-concepts and act altruistically, the healthier our brains become; and on the other hand, the more fear-inducing our God- concept is, the more selfish our actions and the more damage occurs. This requires skill, study, prayer, preparation, and the Holy Spirit. In other words, you're going to have temporal trouble, look ahead to eternal glory. Best for who? In the first message of The Blessed Life series, Pastor Robert explains that giving is an attitude of the heart. It involves concerning our heart with the concerns of God's heart. They had preached there in the synagogue for three Sabbaths and then done some work among the Gentiles and established a church. "Who is weak without my being weak?" Let me say it another way. He had affection for his people. So what is it that marks the heart of a pastor? Implication, if they treat the master one way, they'll treat the servant the same way. It's almost a toss-up, very hard to make a decision. Element number one is affection for his people, affection for his people. That is because leadership is so crucial in the church and also because the people need to hold leadership to the standard that God has laid down. It means to suffer with. Because he knew they were under persecution. Because the message told them about God and about Christ and encouraged them to apply what they knew in the difficult situation. You are destined for trouble. The following is the opening paragraph of the sermon I will be preaching on Sunday, October 18 on Matthew 25:14-30 (Parable of the Talents). And I guess it really has to start with this. This is what we're all about. Paul is saying, "I want Timothy to come and increase your capacity for trusting God and therefore encouraging you to apply God's truth." They can do that. He walked right into Troas, wide open door to preach the gospel. He really cares about his people. Obviously. Paul was alone in Athens for a while. Since the UK is now no longer a member of the EU, you may be charged an import tax on this item by the customs authorities in your country of residence, which is beyond our control. In chapter 15 verse 32, "Judas and Silas, being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren." Each of these steps is an antidote, a cure, or a remedy, to the diseases we have just discussed.