Every person that will have a fruitful ministry for the cause of Christ will pay some price along the way. Many Christians want the blessings without being willing to bear the burdens; they want the crown without carrying the cross. Yet whenever there was a great work done for God in Scripture, someone was willing to pay a great price. Noah, Moses, David, Daniel, Nehemiah, and Paul all experienced the fruit of spiritual success—and the expense of personal sacrifice.
In the June Spiritual Leadership Podcast, we explore the unique costs involved in building a growing church.
[mp3]http://lbc-downloads.com/podcasts/slp/the_cost_of_pastoring_a_growing_church.mp3[/mp3]
Podcast: Download
Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing. God used Paul to accomplish great things in ministry, but it wasn’t without cost. Paul emphasized this in 2 Corinthians 11:23–28: “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”
For those who are willing to count the cost and put their hand to the plow without turning back, God provides daily grace to continue in the ministry and see spiritual fruit. When we’re willing to yoke up with Christ, we find a supernatural strength that only comes from abiding in Him and ministering in the power of His Spirit.
The Spiritual Leadership podcast is a free resource from Striving Together Publications (a ministry of Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College).
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