Here’s Bobby Jamieson’s answer to the question ‘What is an apostolic pastor?’ in the latest 9 Marks e-Journal”
- Pastors who care deeply about the progress of the gospel beyond their local churches.
- Pastors who encourage, disciple, and partner with other pastors.
- Pastors who lead their congregations to link arms with other likeminded local churches for evangelism, church planting, and more.
- Pastors who share some of the apostles’ priorities and concerns, even though he doesn’t share their office.
- Pastors who recognise that Jesus hasn’t called our churches to fulfil the great commission alone.
I’ve just finished a 10 week teaching series on the polity of the church.
You can download all the handouts from the series below:
At Banstead Community Church the elders meet every other week. Something I’ve started doing is, to email them an article or two to read and a helpful talk to listen to, the week there is no meeting.
Here’s what I sent them this week:
1 Chronicles 6 (13th May 2012, Banstead Community Church)
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Levi is placed in the centre of the genealogy so that two truths shine brightly:
1. There is a High Priest still to come
2. There is a Sacrifice still to be made
From The Times newspaper today (page 14-15 of the print edition)…
When Kate and Dan Green were told they would find it difficult to conceive naturally, they decided to adopt (writes Ruth Maclean). But like many prospective parents approaching their local council, they were scared off by Surrey at the first hurdle.
“We did ring the local authority, but we were put off with the initial phone call,” Mrs Green said.
“There was a mention of CRB checks straight away, before anything else — it just didn’t feel right. They didn’t make us feel particularly comfortable.”
Mr and Mrs Green were unusual in that they wanted to adopt a child with special needs. “We just felt we had the patience and time to give a child with special needs, and they’re so difficult to find homes for.”
Giving up on the local authority they went to Tact, Britain’s largest fostering and adoption charity. They were given a social worker and their application was put before a panel to decide if they were fit to adopt.
The Greens were approved and met Harrizon, a 15-month-old with foetal alcohol syndrome who is now four and idolises his big sister, Molly. But there was a long way to go before he could become part of the family.
“The most stressful part is having met Harrizon and got to know him, they might turn around and say, ‘You’re not right for each other — you need to find a different child’. They can still say no.”
The whole process took two years — the final adoption order took almost a year to come through. “It’s a huge upheaval. I’m not sure if I would do it again.”
Another useful post on how you can pray is Mike McKinley’s post with eight brief prayers that can be used while writing a sermon:
- Lord, please help me to understand the meaning of this text and how it points to Christ.
- Lord, please increase my love for the people who will hear this sermon.
- Lord, please give me wisdom to apply this text to the lives of the people in our congregation.
- Lord, please use this passage to help me grasp and love the gospel more so that I might help my hearers do the same.
- Lord, please help me to see how this passage confronts the unbelief of my hearers.
- Lord, please help me to be obedient to the demands of this passage. Help me to enter the pulpit having already submitted my life to this truth before I preach it.
- Lord, by your Spirit please help me to preach this sermon with the necessary power and with appropriate affections.
- Lord, please use this sermon to bring glory to your name, joy to your people, and salvation to the lost.
Tim Challies has written a helpful post about how you can pray about your prayer life.
Here are his seven ways:
- Pray that your prayers would be the expressions of a humble heart (Matthew 6:5-6)
- Pray that God would remind you that he doesn’t want or need your eloquent prayers (Matthew 6:7-8; Romans 8:26)
- Pray that you would remember what the really important requests are (Matthew 6:9-13)
- Pray that you would remember biblical examples of answered prayer (James 5:13-14, 17-18)
- Pray that God would give you confidence in his sovereign power (Ephesians 3:20-21)
- Pray that God would help you to persevere in your praying (Luke 18:1-8)
- Pray that God would encourage you that he is your loving Father and will give you only what is good (Matthew 7:9-11)
