Bringing God's Word to Real Troubles
Every pastor eventually sits across from someone whose life has come apart. A bad diagnosis. A discovered affair. A teenager who will not come home. A widow who cannot sleep. A man who says, very quietly, that his family would be better off without him. Preaching to a crowd is only part of a pastor's work. Much of the rest happens one person at a time.
If you are in danger or thinking about ending your life, please stop reading and get help. In the United States, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, at any hour, or call 911. Tell your pastor, a friend, or a doctor today. You are not alone.
Paul reminded the Ephesian elders that he had taught them publickly, and from house to house (Acts 20:20), and that he had not stopped to warn every one night and day with tears (Acts 20:31). To the Thessalonians he gave a short manual on the subject.
“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”1 THESSALONIANS 5:14 · KJV
People need different things. The unruly need a warning. The feebleminded, a word that here means the fainthearted, need comfort. The weak need someone to hold them up. Everyone needs patience. A good counselor learns which person is sitting in front of him.
Personal ministry in which one believer helps another apply God's Word to his troubles, sins, and sorrows, with prayer, with love, and with the hope of Christ.
This work does not belong to pastors alone. Paul told a whole church it was able also to admonish one another (Romans 15:14), and he told all of us to carry one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2). Pastors are given For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12). Moses heard the same lesson from his father-in-law: thou art not able to perform it thyself alone (Exodus 18:18). Deacons, older men and women, and faithful friends all share this care (see Deacons and Shepherding the Flock).
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For Deeper Study
- Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and LoveAmazon Edward T. WelchA warm, simple guide to how ordinary believers can help one another. Reformed.
- Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of ChangeAmazon Paul David TrippHow God uses believers to bring His Word to one another. Reformed.
- Visit the Sick: Ministering God's Grace in Times of IllnessAmazon Brian CroftA short practical guide to hospital and home visits, from a pastor. Calvinistic Baptist.
- Competent to CounselAmazon Jay E. AdamsThe 1970 book that launched the modern biblical counseling movement. Presbyterian. We give medical care more room than its author did.
- Becoming a Church That Cares Well for the AbusedAmazon Brad Hambrick, editorTraining for church leaders on responding to abuse. Evangelical.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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The Sufficiency of Scripture
Scripture contains everything God requires us to believe and obey for salvation and godliness, so no new revelation, tradition, or experience is needed to complete it.
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