Date: October 16, 2022
Bible Text: Ephesians 4:11-13 | Pastor David McMahon
The arrival of a new pastor has many parallels to a new marriage.
Preparation:
First, we must prepare ourselves; prayerfully we must become the kind of person we want to marry. Pray in advance that we choose the correct partner and pray for them after we choose, DAILY.
As a congregation, we must also pray we become the type of congregation – people - we want in our church. Pray for the new pastor as we search, as we choose, and after we choose, daily.
In both scenarios:
We should have joyful anticipation.
We need to spend time getting to know each other, get to know their passions and discover your shared passions.
We can expect too much. Neither the new spouse nor the new pastor are perfect! Lest we forget, we are not perfect and we do not want them to expect perfection out of us.
As you prepare for a new pastor remember his calling is to bring the church to completeness, to create wholeness. Compare to an orchestra, the conductor does not make any music. The orchestra solely performs the music; the conductor guides and directs the performers. A unique part of his job is to prepare us all to create and perform “the light motif” of our mighty God, Jehovah. The pastor doesn’t perform but prepares other to do so. Ephesians 4:11-13 “equipping the saints.” We need to be equipped, we need to be matured.
Remember the answers to a pastor’s dreams are found in Jehovah God, not in the church and congregation.
The challenge was given, we are to prepare ourselves for the new pastor and trust God to prepare the new pastor for us.