 some the practical keys and then we'll also look at some of the the life and ministry of some of the oh it's not started recording yet okay it's taking a bit of a time just wait for some time I'm not sure why hmm it shows recording okay oh yeah okay that's why now I now I got the I could okay wonderful okay okay so yeah so that's our plan for today that we look at some of the practical keys of doing the ministry of the pastor we'll wrap that up and then go into we'll just look at lives of maybe I just chose a couple of evangelists and then we'll look at their lives and then we'll see so yeah so let's get started so this is chapter 13 practical keys to doing the ministry of a pastor so you looked at various various things that are responsibilities that a pastor has and you see it's so varied it's dealing with people it's it's a little you know there is a spiritual aspect of ministry that is the the the administrative or the organizational aspect of ministry there is caring for the people and so we see you know varied responsibilities which are there for the pastor so we so organizationally you know I think we look at raising up God's people into leadership and also supervise the staff of the congregation the people who are on staff in the church and in the ministry and also to provide spiritual direction for the daily operation or daily living of the congregation and so we looked at that last class the other thing to that the responsibility which the pastor has is also to steward the development of or develop the stewardship of the of the congregation of the people in the congregation you see that you know in order to for people to discover their call in order for people to walk in the call fullness of the call of course there is the the teaching aspect of it so where the people are you know everyone is led to to seek God to look at the word to to see how God calls different people and also to recognize the call of God to recognize the voice of the Lord in in one's own personal lives and they establish the spiritual disciplines of reading the word you know seeking God for oneself and and growing in it you know there is that that aspect of it but the best place to actually walk walk that out right to discover the call to walk that out and to and to grow in it is of course the local church where you have the congregation where you have the body of believers and like we saw in one Corinthians 12 it talks about the fact that we are baptized in the body of Christ and the spiritual body of Christ and each member having different roles and responsibilities and different graces by which we might strengthen one another you strengthen another member and you receive strength that you help another member and you receive help and God has placed us in the body and there are these membership gifts the gifts of the spirit we call that we looked at one of these 12 we see the gifts of the spirit and also Romans 12 talks about the membership gifts where in the body you know you there are the spirit of God expresses through the through the members through the through you and I as first of that particular body so that we can be of help we can serve and receive help as well you see leadership and compassion and the generosity and in all those others others other gifts as well being added so so this is so as a pastor you know we need to develop that right so that they can they can serve they can the congregation is is able to sharpen you know one another and grow in those areas as well so which means that in that area that we give opportunities make create space for people to to come forward with their resources with the call with the gifting and and give a space now an opportunity to serve to get trained and so on so so people come forward with their time with the natural abilities their skill and gifting and finances and so on so all that you know can be you know how do you develop the stewardship of that right so the so the pastor teaches the pastor creates space creates opportunities for people to serve in the right way of course you know being trained being equipped to ensure that that happens and and then to serve in the right in the right manner so so there's great benefit in in serving in the local you know the body of Christ in whatever way you know I started out serving as a volunteer at all people's church I started out serving as a volunteer in in worship and and everything literally you know coming and opening the place and putting down putting out chairs and and also you know taking care of sound whatever little like I could because it was a it was a you know one of the locations and which we call south ABC south and this was a smaller location I think at that time when we came in it was about maybe 25 people or 30 people and and so it was you know in the early stages and so it was a wonderful opportunity to serve and to and to also realize what your call is right and you know you do you know that there is a call of God you know that God has called you to this and this and and here is the place where you're you know regularly meeting with people and serving in simple ways right just arranging chairs I think you have sound opening the place maybe coordinating the cleaning of the place you know even those sometimes we look at it as non spiritual and not really get into it but but you know I would strongly encourage that we should consider that and and really do that right and and then you get to meet with people you get to learn a lot of things how to do how not to we make mistakes we learn from it and and on overall it's it's really a development of character because you know as a volunteer when you serve it's you know it's it's a stretch on your time it's a stretch on your resources and you know so because we were you know we were working I was working in corporate sales with an organization so I used to travel on you know weekdays by then the travel had actually come down but still there was work-related travel and so so time was a precious resource so to volunteer to to be there to come on a weekday to or a weekend and apart from a Sunday service to come there early we stayed about we still stay about 15 kilometers from that church location so to be able to travel and and I think when we started attending and as a family daughter was how old was she she must have been probably three years three and a half years so or maybe yeah less probably yeah three years maybe I think yeah 2002 2004 yeah two years sorry to two and a half years so you know to go there early and you're serving there and so you need to start much earlier right to go open up the place and so on so we used to really you know kind of bundle her up and go on the bike and and one one side you know there'll be this bag with her diapers and diaper change and food and whatever and you know the other bag would have you know the projector because we was taking the projector the LCD projector for the church and so church service and we're taking that and and and there are days when you know you don't want to right you you get up and you just want to sleep in and so because we need to leave the house at probably you know 7am or maybe earlier and go there and do this and then you know week after week you're doing it so you learn quite a bit it's your character is developed and you begin to do things even though you don't feel like it you know because it needs to be done right it's you've taken on the responsibility and you want to do it so so you learn quite a bit right so as a as a pastor to be able to steward that to be able to give that opportunity to create space so that a person can come into a team to serve under learn to serve under you know a leader like for example you know in during the week Monday to Saturday Monday to Friday the person might be you know a business leader could be a business owner could be a CEO of a company could be you know a project manager whatever but then when you're serving and you're maybe you're handling parking in the church facility or maybe you're in charge of ushering maybe in charge of you know putting out the chairs and cleaning things and and it's really a you know it's really humbling experience right and you learn to steward your time steward your finances steward your your talents and everything and you begin to grow right so it helps really sharpen sharpen a lot of things in in you as a person in us as a person so it's a very important aspect again of pastoral ministry to be able to do that right so so people don't just come attend and go people just don't come listen and go but they are plugged in to the to the life and ministry of the church like to be able to facilitate that now it won't happen to everyone of course you know but we but we need to just make sure that we at least provide those avenues right so the pastor does that provide those avenues think on those lines and say okay how can I love and so it comes with a you know with a lot of other things as well like people may not want to serve me after some time and etc so that's that's all fine okay okay and I'm on page page 28 in the notes so also when it comes to when it comes to people you know there are obviously challenges in living their lives in I mean all of us we have challenges challenges would come in several areas right we live in a real world we live in a natural world we deal with you know several things so we deal with relationships we deal with you know handling of finances we deal with career we deal with you know so many other things so so to provide avenues for people to you know when when people face those challenges right so it could be either you as a pastor the pastor himself or herself is gifted maybe or trained in counseling so you know to be able to to facilitate that okay or sometimes you realize that okay maybe we can you know we can give a listening year and you know and and counsel from the word and share from the word but there are some some things which are very complex some challenges which are very complex some you know difficulties which people go through which are really complex and maybe you know as a pastor in that season of life you don't feel equipped to handle that but still you know people can't wait right people needs are there people's challenges are there so that needs to be you know taken care of people need to be ministered so either the pastor himself or herself can counsel or to facilitate to refer to an external counseling ministry right so that that is that would work perfectly perfectly as well so you know develop relationship with counselors with counseling ministries and people whom you can trust mature people who you know counsel from the word and so you know that's something that you can always refer people to or you know even when it comes to rehabilitation centers or halfway homes and and so it's good to develop these contacts and to to find out how do they do these things and and to refer you know some of these things yeah maybe you know it can be people in the congregation some of these ministries some of these counseling centers could be run by people in the congregation or it could be outside of the congregation as well right so here at APC you know we had you know people who were trained and gifted in counseling like you know like Mrs. Jean and and the others who are there so could form a team and and you know have that ministry counseling ministry but but the pastor or the lead pastor would oversee it like pastor Ashish does so so you know that is something that that the pastor the role of the pastor it would also look into that and take care of that also right and lastly I mean this is not an exhaustive list but yeah I think it covers most of the areas lastly also would be you know several things you know where people come in people journey and it and you see that people are spending their lifetime right it's a it's a journey and it's it's an exciting journey to see see that happen right so people come and and and right now you know we are next year we have some weddings happening and these are people who joined you know when they were children right when they were so maybe pre-teens kind of you know and and you know they are considering marriage now so you see that they've lived a huge a major chunk of their life in in church so you see people come and maybe they meet their their future spouse potential spouse there in church and then you know you take care of their marriage preparation process and then of course there is the you know there is the wedding itself to be taken care of right so so you have a preparation process for them and here at ABC of course we have what is called the marriage preparation course you may have you know you may have information about that from the marriage and family course right so we have that and we ensure that the couples who are intending to be married and being some solemnized by the pastors of the church go through that so they prepare for that so that is something that is you know based or which is there set in the church started by you know the church so we have that then the wedding itself right so the so the pastor is in charge of conducting the wedding so so the pastor learns to do that and you know what is the order of service okay and plan with the family okay this is this is something that we have in place in church and so this is how the wedding happens so you could have people who are coming from you know the pastor could have people coming from you know non-churched backgrounds right so they are the first-generation believers so for them you know maybe they've never attended a church wedding maybe they never they don't know what goes into a wedding so you know it's a it's a it's the responsibility of the pastor to teach teach that and and also have maybe a sample order of service of the wedding and and to take the couple through that and and the families and and so on so it's you know that process as well then of course you know when when babies come you know and then there is baby dedications dedications of the babies in church so we do that and so baby dedications are simply you know I know different churches called it by different names but we consecrate the baby pray over the baby the church as congregation as pastors praying over the baby praying the blessing of God over the baby and it's a time to also for the for the couple to introduce the name of the of the child or make public the name of the of the child so baby dedications you know happen and happen that and happen in church and so the pastor gives leadership for that as well okay and of course some of the challenging aspects of you know of family which is death and taking care of that right death and funerals burials so of course these happen suddenly and at various times so to be prepared to have a process in place for that to be prepared to to conduct that right now so it it you know as a as someone who's called into the pastoral ministry you know when gross into all these areas it doesn't happen overnight when gross into all this and the Lord of course you know there's there's a training and then you learn you know you learn as you're preparing for pastoral ministry and you learn a lot of things as you are in the pastoral ministry as well right so so some of these things like fume drills and so on you you watch and you learn you you see how the other pastors do it and then you learn and you do it also right also I missed out one thing baptisms water baptism and also sacraments of the church like we saw earlier in a water baptism communion so the pastor gives leadership for that okay so these are some you see it's you know it's I think we kind of spent a lot of time here it's kind of detailed and the responsibility is because vast and so we spend some time on it so so just want to encourage us you know we've looked at the evangelist we looked at the what goes into the ministry of the evangelist we see the Lord as the example we looked at the you know the teaching a ministry the ministry ministry gift of the teacher and we see what goes into it and how the teaching anointing functions and so on and we looked at now and there also we see the Lord Jesus as the example and now we looked at the pastoral ministry gift and and how it's it's do with what a shepherd would do right so we looked at that as well so the thing is not to get hung up on labels right so for for those of us who are just maybe starting off or maybe considering maybe just waiting on the Lord and praying and saying God you know I want to serve yeah but in you know how what right so don't get hung up on or don't get too preoccupied with the label you know am I an evangelist am I a teacher am I a pastor the best thing is to to be equipped like what is happening now and in your personal time with the Lord you know that is that's a great equipping that's happening in the school of the Holy Spirit and as we sit and allow him to teach now and start serving okay so start serving don't look for the ideal place the ideal audience and and and so on but just start serving where you are and in small ways let's start serving and and may the Lord lead you know and expand the the influence expand the scope of ministry be faithful in the small things right be faithful in the in the in the in what we consider a small right but just go at it to start serving and may the Lord lead and and open up those doors for ministry as well right okay so so that's something that I just wanted to encourage us because sometimes we wait you know we wait a long time you know in the sense to really step in and start doing it you know maybe the you know the fullness of the call would happen at a later time but we don't have to wait till then we can start serving in small ways right is there a teaching opportunity is you know you teach maybe it's you know it's a small group at home and I think that's the best the best place to start and maybe it's just you and two others or you and another another person a younger believer or younger believer in the sense young in the faith but start there right and it's encouraging and sharing what the Lord has taught or what you you know what you have learned and just start there if it comes to you know where you feel the stirring for evangelism you feel the compassion and and the compulsion in your spirit to really you know let people know start with family right start with family make a list start praying and then then you know you'll be surprised as the Lord opens up and gives opportunities it could happen as conversations when you know in family gatherings it could happen as conversations in in the in the most ranges you know the strangest of places right it could happen but then be mindful of that and and just be faithful and share and and that's how you know we start right it's not like you wait and then we do it no and after most of you can testify I think you know I've heard from some of you know you you've already doing it so I continue to do that right let it pick up momentum you know and be faithful in what you're doing and be good at what you're doing also then I'll get get into the word get into the you know reflect on what how it was done and then say okay how can I be better how can I articulate things clear I know if it comes to a let's say a teacher you know how can I articulate it how can I share this in a better way you know what should I avoid and how can I be better at it right so these are some things okay yes Charles we are on we're still on the same page 28 and yeah 28 in our notes right okay so we will stop here and we look at the lives of some of the evangelists right so and I just chose a couple of evangelists and one being Billy Graham and who was you know born in the US in North Carolina and Charlotte I think yeah and son of a dairy farmer quite well to do and doing very well and how he started off he came to know Christ and and then he felt his call to preach the gospel he got trained and and then went to ministry so I just have a couple of other than you know me just stating the facts I just thought it'll be good if I shared the links for the videos then I thought you know rather than that we could just watch together and then probably you know talk about that as well so I have a couple of videos of Billy Graham so let's let's watch that right okay let me just share that so this is a video which is made by the by the Billy Graham Foundation it's called the ministry after I think after he passed away so let's watch that time I saw I fell in love with her and I knew she was the one I was going to marry and they were three in our marriage there was the Lord and there was Ruth and me it was a love relationship my mother loved my father and my father loved and adored her and it was a partnership because she's a great student of the Bible and was a real good advisor she was perhaps his first advisor there wouldn't be a Billy Graham without Ruth Graham I said yes to Jesus Christ and I remember that I put that in the stale and for the first time in my life in the 1940s as Billy Graham began his evangelistic ministry he recruited several talented colleagues to help no one was more valued than Ruth who was rarely in public view but was an active advisor to Billy behind the scenes a team began for one that proved to be inspired as these men served together for decades he'd written me and asked me to become his gospel singer and I said to him you know the only gospel singer I've ever known about it was sing a verse or two and then stop and talk a while but I have to do that he's chocolate he said I hope not George Beverly Shea a well-known musician and radio personality became the beloved soloist for the Crusades as the music and program director Cliff Barrows would also host each Billy Graham event and program throughout the years friends from high school and trusted colleagues Grady and TW Wilson worked behind the scenes to organize the meetings long before they enjoyed national prominence these men held a somewhat impromptu meeting in Modesto, California it was 1949 just before one of their early Crusade events Bill mentioned to us he said you know we know that evangelists in the past have run into difficulties that gotten involved in things that have brought this repute to the cause of Christ and he said let's ask God to guard us from making those mistakes the team decided to hold each other accountable to four virtues financial accountability moral integrity respect for the local church and their pastors and truth in publicity it became known as the Modesto manifesto and it was through this team that the mission of the Billy Graham evangelistic association came into focus to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to all they could by every effective means available to them it was the foundation of integrity that would serve the team well as the ministry expanded beyond their wildest expectations we were in Augusta Georgia Augusta Georgia and long with that time we we heard we're going to go to Los Angeles it's gonna be a big tent Almighty God says there's going to be a judgment day the first two weeks drew disappointing crowds and the committee of leaders that have invited the crusade to Los Angeles considered ending the events then in the third week popular radio host Stuart Hamplin supported the crusade on his radio broadcast and more publicity was on the way one night I went and I saw several photographers and there were several reporters trying to interview me all at one time and I said what has happened why are you here they said you've just been kissed by William Randolph Hearst the media until now had ignored these events but with interest from the head of the vast Hearst publishing empire national coverage was almost instantaneous Jesus Christ the Son of God has an answer to every burden that you care the crusade was extended from the original plan of three weeks to eight with this singular event Billy Graham became a household name it was confirmation of his calling and God's faithfulness and we're praying that in these days we might see an old-fashioned heaven sent holy ghost revival that will sweep our nation from coast to coast with a little voice speaking to you now and even while I'm talking that little voice is saying that's what I need I need Christ I need God I'm going to ask you to surrender to that little voice because that little voice is the voice of the spirit of God invitations for crusades continue to pour in from church groups all across the nation here in Times Square I believe spiritual draws people together like this the next few decades became a whirlwind of opportunity for Billy Graham and people have come to visit us from all over America and for that part all over the world in 1954 a committee of church leaders in England arranged for a series of crusade meetings in Great Britain at the time London was the largest city in the world but the event was threatened by vocal members in Parliament who didn't want the American evangelist to hold a public event there after much prayer God open the doors and just as the Los Angeles crusade created a watershed in America the London crusade marked a breakthrough in Billy's international prominence and we're here to honor and glorify only one person and that is the man in the glory Jesus Christ total attendance was over 2 million culminating with the final meeting in Wembley Stadium soon the Billy Graham evangelistic team made their way across Europe to places like Stockholm Amsterdam Berlin the message of this book is the message of God he bought chapter this bullet and Paris you must receive Christ before and in 1956 into Asia including India I'm going to ask you to come and receive Hong Kong before we can have world peace we must have peace within our heart Japan the world and eventually South Korea I want to talk about the greatest man that ever lived over a million people from all over Korea came to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ on almost every continent from Australia and if you come to Canada give your life to Christ in it to Latin America and beyond that God love God opened the doors to take the good news into all the world I think there are millions of people around the world that maybe have never heard of Christ yet Christ has spoken to their hearts and they're prepared to listen and my job is to go and present Christ to those people whose hearts God is prepared as Billy's ministry grew so did his family through the years the Grahams were blessed with five children we didn't realize that daddy was well-known or anything but I guess when when look magazine and time magazine and life magazine would come to the house with daddy's pictures on the front we began to realize there's something special here national prominence brought increased demands on Billy's time and the call to preach around the world would often keep him on the road and away from his family for several months at a time sometimes I imagine you feel like a stranger to your own family don't you well I really do the last time I was home I've been away seven months I didn't understand the difficulties that my mother was going through saying goodbye to my father knowing that he's gonna be going not just for a week but for four months six months incredible lady mother I never in my life I've ever heard her complain never heard her say a negative word about my daddy a lot of times I would go down this driveway here with tears in my eyes I didn't want to go because I need to be several weeks or months before I'd say oh by the way I want to ask you one question did you go to church last Sunday did you make it last month yes did you go last month you have a winner now early in his ministry Billy understood the power of the media to reach more people for Christ greetings ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another hour of decision even hosting a long-running television program and a weekly radio broadcast have you received him by a definite act of faith Billy was a natural television personality I think Billy went on all those shows because he always was spreading the message he answered the questions but it always came back to Christ as your savior Christ loves you you've been reading the Bible I say you know about the commandments yes I know 10 commandments can be broken in your heart by thought and intent so in that sense we're all guilty and that's the reason the Bible says that everybody's a sinner even Ed is a sinner well that comes as quite a surprise though he never sought fame he saw that his growing recognition gave him an unparalleled opportunity to spread the gospel what is your purpose my purpose is to win as many people to him now and I'm doing it because he ordered us to he said go into the whole world and proclaim this message that God loves people that he's interested in people he wants to help them in their present situation and he wants to save their souls people often refer to my grandfather's America's pastor and I think it would be a term like that my grandfather would blush at because he never sit out to be that never in William Billy Graham's untiring evangelism I spread the word of God to every corner of the globe and made him one of the most inspirational spiritual leaders of the 20th century the international attention would also bring in before American presidents and world leaders beginning with president Truman Billy's spiritual council was welcomed by every subsequent president in the nation's highest office I think it's true him that I found myself praying even more than a daily basis he would be consulted by men and women of power in many countries on matters of faith trusted confidant behind the closed doors of leaders his reputation is above reproach or suspicion and he's been a Christ-like figure people see him as the great evangelist but there's a warm personal side chain that we Bushes have been privileged to see he was a highly intelligent highly articulate highly charismatic man of profound faith who was nevertheless a man he set for himself the highest possible standards he has epitomized absolute integrity from the public ministry you're made in the image of God you were made to glorify God he's one of the great evangelists of our nation's history his crusades are legendary the size of his crowds were magnificent throughout the years because of the message and without God there's an empty place in your life that could be filled tonight right tonight by a simple surrender to Jesus Christ I consider the call to the ministry the highest and most marvelous calling in the world because it's an eternal calling and I wouldn't trade places with any president or any king God was calling me and I said Lord I'll go where you want me to go and I'll be what you want me to be I'm yours our job is to call out a people for his name confronting the world with the claims of Christ and that's what we've been doing in our organization and that's what you've been doing in your churches scattering seeds and these seeds are seeds of the gospel and they fall upon good ground and bring forth good proof internet evangelism is one of the most successful evangelistic programs that this organization has ever done when people have questions about spiritual matters or religion they go online so it's important to be there with the gospel the rapid response team chaplains go at a moment's notice into some of the toughest areas of the world to minister the gospel the Lord Jesus Christ the peace that Jesus brings just who washes over the person we pray with it's been exciting to see what God has done at the Billy Graham Library every day lives are changed it's about the gospel we're going to continue our crusades tonight you can surrender your life to Jesus Christ and he will forgive you he'll cleanse you he'll make you into a new creation we must prepare the ground and sow the seed of God's word and water it what is our message Christ alone as the Savior of men go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature there is no excuse ever for hatred there is no excuse ever for bigotry and intolerance and prejudice we're to love as God loved us crossing into uncharted territory Billy refused to allow intense criticism to keep him from sharing the good news with everyone regardless of race but when God looks at you he doesn't look on the output of parents his decision to confront racism and injustice in America and other parts of the world raise the respect of many the ire of others the way the truth in the light or do you mind Billy had received invitations to preach in South Africa but refused to do so until he could preach to a non segregated audience openly challenging apartheid Christianity is not a white man's religion and don't let anybody ever tell you that it's white of black Christ belongs to all people he belongs to the whole world and he said to the thousands there apartheid is sin it's wrong it's not right with God and the papers carried I know that God is sending me out as a warrior to preach the gospel and I must continue until he gives the signal that I'm to stop in the height of the Cold War he and his ministry boldly took their message to the communist Soviet Union where Christianity had been repressed the hope lies at the foot of the cross it helped to undermine the communist system so I think he was one of the forces that kept the window open to the human spirit I've traveled over this world a great deal now and I feel that I'm a part of a great mosaic of the human race that God has created each made in his image each needing the gospel of Christ each having the same basic problems and desires and longings and I'm a part of that many things about God that I don't understand or comprehend I accept his revelation of himself by faith when natural disasters caused devastation the Billy Graham team reached out to those in need offering physical and spiritual assistance living the word of the gospel in prayer and action they brought hope during seemingly hopeless times while we preach the cross with one arm we also give a cup of cold water with the other he has often been a healing voice and a calming shepherd bringing comfort and solace to a troubled nation during seasons of crisis this event reminds us of the brevity and the uncertainty of life we never know when we too will be called into eternity my prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us and we'll know in our hearts they will never forsake us as we trust in him I think one of yeah we'll we'll take a break and then we'll come back and talk about what we saw okay thank you