Serve by Design

Recently, I visited one of our members in the hospital. She had just received a sobering diagnosis. I had no sooner entered the room than she shared what the doctor had told her. I had not met her before, but I think she had recognized me as the care pastor from the church before I had the chance to introduce myself. Image Credit: istock.com Although I have been in previous situations like this many times during the years of my pastoral ministry, it is still difficult to hear such a serious diagnosis. It gave me pause as I observed the pleasant expression on her face. I was gathering my thoughts just as one of the patient’s family came into the room from out of town. I reintroduced myself as he put some personal items down on a nearby couch. Then, as he made his way over to the loved one’s bedside, he spontaneously asked this question, “Are we going to pray?” I was caught off guard by his prompting, but immediately responded as I put my hat, gloves, and phone down on a chair, “Sure!...

One of the things I have always enjoyed as a pastor is the variety of things that I am often asked to do. In a very real sense, the calling to pastor is the work of a generalist. The pastor is a care giver, a leader-administrator, and a proclaimer of the gospel. Of course, we are also friends, family members and citizens in our communities. Each of the roles we play are opportunities to serve. The Good Shepherd Image credit: freebibleimages.org Recently, I was asked to preach the traditional service in my home church - Springfield First UMC. One of our pastors took some much-needed time off and I had the privilege of substituting for him. Since the pastors were in a pre-Easter series on the Parables, I was assigned the one on the Talents from Matthew 25. Here is an excerpt from that message… ”This story today in verses 14-30 of the Talents , shows us the necessity of using well what God has entrusted to us. The point of this parable is not how much God has entrusted, but rather how ...