Greetings Church family!
It was a joy to worship God with you on Sunday both in the morning and evening. And it was especially delightful to preach on elders as overseers and pastors since I’ve been able to grow in that role for 7 years now. And it’s always a joyful exercise for me to teach on the joyful element of pastoral ministries because I understand it through experience.
As I said on Sunday, ‘he who aspires to the office of overseer (remember it’s synonymous with pastor & elder) desires a noble task.’ -1 Tim. 3:1
Allow me to elaborate on how important it is for an elder to love what he does!
Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
There is such a joyful element to Church leadership. But it’s a two-way street. The congregation can “let them (lead) with joy” by submitting to, looking up to, and following the example of Church leaders. Word of Life Chapel has proven to be a Church that helps us as leaders lead with joy.
However, even when a Church presents challenges to the Church leadership that requires them to carry the weight of people’s problems, it can still remain a joyful mission. Here’s how: the mentality of a Church leader is: ‘your burden is my burden and I will gladly bear it up like a heavy weight lifter.’
There are those who enjoy lifting weights and working out, even while these exercises put strain on the body and joins. In fact, weightlifting is literally the activity of tearing your own muscles, and yet people willingly put themselves under that kind of weight and stress for the enjoyment of it and for the growth of their body.
There ought to be a weightlifters mentality with every Church leader: ‘we are glad to bear the burdens of our Church members, even when it’s un bearable weight.’ And that’s why every Church leader (as elder, pastor, overseer) needs to be “strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1).
May God grant strength to His leaders within this local Church in helping to carry your burdens with joy.
Working together with you for your “joy and progress in the faith (Phil. 1:25),”
Love,
Aaron
