9Marks
In a nutshell, an installation service should clarify and underscore the responsibility the pastor has toward the church and the responsibility the church has toward the pastor.
9Marks
Learn everything you can about your people. Get to know them by name. Learn how they became Christians, what their experience at the church has been like, and what they are struggling with and encouraged by in the church.
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Preach the Word. The single most important thing a young pastor must do is preach God’s Word. Everything begins here. God’s Word is what converts sinners and sanctifies saints (1 Thess. 1:5; Jn. 17:17). God’s Word is what brings health and growth and godly change (1 Thess. 2:13). Therefore, faithful expositional preaching of God’s Word must be a young pastor’s first priority.
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Join a church. Remember that the local church, not seminary, is God’s primary means for proclaiming the gospel, building up the saints, and preparing you for ministry (Eph. 4:11-16). Use your time at seminary as an opportunity to grow in your ministry and involvement in the local church, not to put the local church on the back burner.
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Jesus himself withdrew from ministering to huge crowds so that he could pray alone (Luke 5:12-16). The apostle Paul made time to pray for churches near and far (Rom. 1:9-10, 1 Cor. 1:4, Eph. 1:16, Phil. 1:4, Col. 1:3). But in case the examples of Jesus and Paul aren’t enough, here are a few more reasons why pastors should spend daily, personal time in the Word and prayer.
9Marks
Have deliberate, weekly one-on-one time with each of your children, probably to include playing, reading scripture, or praying.
Date your daughters.
Leave the church at church so dad can be dad at home.
Take a child with you on visits or short trips.
Take an interest in what your children enjoy doing.
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When a church interviews you for the position of pastor, explain that they are hiring you and not your wife (the Bible says nothing about elders’ wives). When the church asks what she will do, explain that she intends to join the church and be a member, just like everyone else.
Help guard her heart from the church’s extra expectations of her.
Give her space to define her own role in the church.
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Take the initiative to establish a plan for family worship, then follow the plan!
Come home at the exact time you say you will be home and prepare your heart to serve your family, not be served.
Take responsibility for your children’s education and discipline—don’t leave it to your wife to figure out.
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Share your pulpit (carefully). Look for ways to give doctrinally and pastorally reliable younger men in your congregation opportunities to preach and teach—even if they are not practiced public speakers.
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Scripture commands it. In 2 Timothy 2:2 Paul writes, “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Since 1 Timothy was written not merely for Timothy, but for us all (Rom. 15:4, 2 Tim. 3:16-17), every pastor of a local church should train other men to be teachers in the church.
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The answer depends on what’s meant by “ordain.”
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The Bible is silent on this issue, which means that wisdom and a prudent application of broader biblical principles must guide our decision.
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Nowhere does the Bible give precise instructions concerning how churches should select elders. Yet there are biblical principles and patterns that should inform how churches go about this process:
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Nowhere does the Bible identify a specific number of elders that should lead each local congregation. Therefore, churches are left to godly wisdom and prudence to help determine how many men God has called to lead them.
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Biblical accountability. Godly fellow elders are a great means for holding the pastor accountable to live, teach, and lead faithfully. In addition, sharing authority among a number of men can keep one man from wrongly lording it over the congregation
Wisdom. There is more wisdom to be found in a multitude of counselors (Prov. 11:14; 24:6).