Answers for Church Members

What are some practical ways that churches can invest in training pastors?

9Marks

Here are several ways that whole congregations can get involved in training pastors:

What are some of the most important things for a pastor-in-training to learn?

9Marks
The Bible. A pastor’s first priority is to preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:2). A pastor-in-training’s first priority should be to study the Word. Holiness. The primary qualifications for an elder are moral and spiritual (1 Tim. 3:2-7). A pastor is to shepherd his people by his own example (1 Pet. 5:3). Therefore a man pursuing the ministry must diligently seek after consistent, hard-fought holiness.

How can I decide whether or not I should be a pastor?

9Marks

Traditionally, Christians have referred to two kinds of “call” a man must experience before entering the pastorate: an internal call and an external call. While the word “call” is potentially misleading, the basic idea is right. Before becoming a pastor, a person should both desire to do the work and receive confirmation from a church. Part of doing both involves considering the biblical qualifications of an elder.

Does a pastor have to be “called” by God?

9Marks

On the one hand, there seems to be no biblical indication that the New Testament office of elder or pastor requires a special “calling.”

Are there unwise ways to do a pastoral search?

9Marks
Try to land a big fish. Some churches go after a long list of “big name” pastors and hope that they’ll catch one. While we should be grateful for men whom God has made widely useful, we shouldn’t primarily target men because of their reputation, but because of their character, biblical qualifications, and biblical philosophy of ministry.

What tips do you have on doing a pastoral search wisely?

9Marks
Train your own. The best way for a church to get a new pastor is to train him themselves. This is a serious investment of time that could take years or even decades to bear fruit. But it is every church’s responsibility to train pastors and elders, and the best new pastor for any church will be a man who is already known to the church, already loves the church, and already has a faithful track record within the church.

What kind of questions should a church ask a pastoral candidate?

9Marks

A church should ask at least four types of questions of any potential pastor: theological, philosophy of ministry, practical, and personal.

Why should a pastor preach expositionally?

9Marks

A pastor should preach expositionally because God works through God’s word. God speaking is God acting.*

How does expositional preaching differ from other kinds of preaching?

9Marks
Topical Preaching: Topical preaching is preaching in which the preacher picks a topic he wants to address and then finds biblical material to fit that topic. Topical preaching is driven by the preacher’s agenda—what he wants to talk about. Expositional preaching, on the other hand, begins with the Bible. A preacher does not decide what to preach and then look at Scripture; rather, he looks at a text of Scripture and allows Scripture to determine what he preaches.

What do people wrongly assume expositional preaching is?

9Marks

Many people wrongly assume that an expositional sermon is

What is an “expositional” sermon?

9Marks

An expositional sermon is a sermon that takes the main point of a passage of Scripture, makes it the main point of the sermon, and applies it to life today.

In other words, an expositional sermon exposes the meaning of a passage of Scripture and shows its relevance to the lives of one’s hearers. That’s it.

This means that an expositional sermon does NOT

What are the benefits of practicing church discipline?

9Marks

To many, church discipline (excluding a professing Christian from membership in the church and participation in the Lord’s Supper because of serious unrepentant sin) sounds downright mean. Yet the Bible portrays discipline as an act of love (Heb. 12:6-11). Here are several benefits:

What is church discipline?

9Marks
Church discipline is the church’s act of confronting someone’s sin and calling them to repent, which, if the person doesn’t repent, will culminate in excluding a professing Christian from membership in the church and participation in the Lord’s Supper because of serious unrepentant sin.

Why is “discipline” not a negative but a positive thing?

9Marks
Discipline sounds like a negative thing. The word makes us think of waking up at 5 a.m., endless pushups, or spankings. These hardly sound appealing! Yet only the proud person believes he or she is perfect. Humility causes us to realize that we are not finished products. We may need inspiration or healing. We may need to be corrected, challenged, or even broken. In other words, all of us need discipline.

What are some important lessons for parents to learn about their children?

9Marks
Little kids need the strength of your youth; older kids need your wisdom (so have children while you’re young!). Pack in truth while your children are little and trust the Lord to unpack it in his time. Study your children. Know their “love language.” Consistent, loving, faithful discipline brings peace to the home. Inconsistency brings chaos.
Share