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Field Notes of an Ordinary Pastor

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017: CHURCHES COLLECTIVELY GIVING THANKS

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017: Churches Collectively Giving Thanks

Spurgeon writes in the February 1865 edition of The Sword and the Trowel that “it is the duty of a Church collectively, to declare what God hath done for ‘their souls’.”  So “what God is doing for good in one Church ought therefore to be made known to other Churches, that thanks may be given by many on its behalf and others may be provoked to love and good works.”  One way he sought to do this was by sharing information about the Metropolitan Tabernacle, the church he pastored.

The FIEC have sought to facilitate this through their Get to know… videos as a way of helping churches know what God is doing in other churches in the fellowship.  At Banstead Community Church we have shown each video that has been produced in our Sunday morning service and spent time praying for the churches featured.

The current COVID crisis has also provided a new opportunity to do this in ZOOM prayer meetings.  It has been great to have previous trainee pastors now in different parts of the country join our prayer meeting and share about what God has done in their churches.  We’ve been able to have joint prayer meetings with other churches.  I’ve also been invited to attend the prayer meeting of another local church and make known how God has blessed the church I paster and hear them give thanks to God.

Is there a leader of a local church you could invite to your church prayer meeting “to declare what God hath done for their souls… that thanks may be given by many”?

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

016: THREE PIECES OF GLASS

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016: Three Pieces of Glass

On the Mortification of Spin podcast there was an interview with Eric Jacobsen about his book Three Pieces of Glass, a book that seeks to address the loneliness crisis and the importance of belonging – the right kind of belonging.

What stood out in the interview was the explanation of the book’s title Three Pieces of Glass.  What are these three pieces of glass and how have they each contributed to loneliness?

The three pieces are 1) the car windscreen, 2) the TV, and 3) the smartphone.

The impact of each is that though making life easier they stop human interaction.

The car has meant that people no longer walk to places or take public transport.  It actually goes further than this, changing the configuration of living space (houses have garages and driveways), as well as the distance we live from places we work and shop.

The TV has meant that we get to know people (TV friends) who make no demands on us and with whom communication is only one way (from them to us).

The smartphone has meant that those places where the possibility of engaging with others remained like queues in shop, school pick ups, are now occupied by scrolling through social media feeds.  The result is that our human interactions have shifted from face to face to virtual, from in-front of you to anywhere in the world.

Listening to the interview a two thoughts came to mind:

First, I think there is a real benefit to local churches having members who actually live in the community the churches is based.  Obviously this isn’t always possible, but it does help if possible a local church is a local church.

Second, I need to remember the disadvantages of these screens are still there even though in this COVID season, they have been shown to have benefits.  Prayer meetings on Zoom have worked well and have made them accessible to more of the members and congregation.  Services live-streamed on YouTube has worked well as a good alternative when live in-person not possible.  WhatsApp can be used to send out daily encouragements to a large number in the church.

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

015: WHAT THE MAN OF GOD DOES

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015: What the man of God does

“But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:11-12)

John MacArthur makes 4 really important observations about what the ‘man of God’ (in the context of the letter of Timothy, the man of God is the one who proclaims the Word of God, the pastor/elder rather than an ordinary church member, although they are to do these things as well).

First, the man of God flees.  He flees from pointless arguments and disputes (1 Timothy 1:4).  He flees from silly myths (1 Timothy 4:7).  He flees from the love of money (1 Timothy 3:3; 6:10).

Second, the man of God follows.  He follows after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11).

Third, the man of God fights.  He fights for the faith (1 Timothy 6:12).  He fights for godliness (1 Timothy 4:12).  He fights against distractions.

Fourth, the man of God remains faithful.  He is faithful to the good confession (1 Timothy 6:12).  He is faithful to the commandments of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

014: A MAN, A BOOK, A BURDEN

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014: A Man, A Book, A Burden

“I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back.”  I looked, and saw him open the book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled; and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry, saying, “What shall I do?” (John Bunyan)

Pilgrim’s Progress opens with a dream, and the first thing seen in this dream was a man.  This man is a description of what lost people when they come under the conviction of their sin are like.

He was clothed with rags (Isaiah 64:6).  They recognise that they are not good enough for God.  Nothing they have done, even the apparent good, makes them acceptable to God and cause Him to let them into heaven.

He was standing in a certain place and looking away from his house.  He was ready to turn his back on his family, neighbours, community (Luke 14:33).

He had a book in his hand.  The book is the Word of God, which had begun to challenge and disturb him (Hebrews 4:12).

He had a great burden on his back.  He feels the weight of his own sinfulness before God and the realisation that he was under the wrath of God (Romans 3:10-11). He has become aware that he has broken God’s law, is accountable to God, and liable to God’s judgment.

He was weeping and shaking.  Deeply concerned for his plight (Hebrews 9:27). Conviction of sin is never a light thing.

He broke down saying, “What shall I do?”  These are the words of a trembling sinner who has come to realise their need for salvation, but has not discovered where this might be found.  He needs someone to tell him how (Acts 16:30-31).

Lost people need God’s Spirit to reveal, as they read the Bible and hear it preached, not only the truth of what they are really like, but also how it is they can be saved.

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

013: MAKING CHANGES IN CHURCH

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013: Making Changes in Church

I can’t remember where I got these two points from (I think they are from a podcast I was listening to), but I’ve found them helpful when thinking about how to get support for any proposed change in church life and ministry, where that be from elders or church members.

The first point is give people time to absorb. They need the opportunity to understand, reflect on, think about, question, give input to what is being suggested. Giving people time to absorb rather than requiring instant support for the proposed change as it, allows time for them to help shape the proposal (making it better), and to own it themselves and be fully behind it.

The second point is give people time to change. Opposition to a change is not always permanent. Not rushing to action what is being proposed can give time to build unity, which is better in the long run. After giving people time to change, if there still isn’t complete unity behind what is being proposed, at that point it is useful to grade the issue to decide how much unity is required to proceed (a simple majority, overwhelming support, unanimous).

Whatever the issue, “try to ensure that the discussion is around what is best for the gospel.”

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

012: THE SWORD AND THE TROWEL

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012: The Sword and the Trowel

In the first edition of The Sword and the Trowel in January 1865, Spurgeon said that it would contain a monthly message to supplement the weekly sermons he preached, and would enable him to say things “which would be out of place in a discourse.”

There are plenty of things that need to be taught which would be out of place in a discourse of the Sunday sermon. How and when will this happen?

In addition, Spurgeon wanted to provide churches and gospel workers with resources, and so in addition, planned to issue one-page tracts suitable for general distribution, outlines of sermons, and Sabbath-school addresses.

I love the generosity of Spurgeon in sharing the resources he produced with other churches and workers. This is an example to follow and one I am trying to with this blog.

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

011: MEMBER CARE DOCUMENTS

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011: Member Care Documents

In implementing a pastoral communication strategy, I have found it helpful to create several documents to help me try and do pastoral care well.

The first document is the ‘How’ document. In this document, by the name of every member I tick off all the different ways they can be communicated with. Can they be contacted face-to-face? (hopefully yes); phone?; Zoom?; Text?; WhatsApp?; Email?; Handwritten letters?

Download ‘How’ document template.

The second document is the ‘When’ document.  In this document, by the name of every member I note the date (when did I contact the member of the church?), the means that I used (was it face-to-face, or by Zoom, or text etc?), and why I contacted them (was it to catch up, to respond to an emergency, regular ask for prayer requests, to tell them I’ve been praying for them?).

Download ‘When’ document template.

The final document is the ‘What’ document [A Field Notes, LEUCHTTURM1917 or Moleskine notebook would work well as a non electronic alternative for this document]. If I have met with, spoken to, or received prayer requests from a member, I try to write down a summary of the communication, especially information learned about them, taking care with recording confidential info.  This document is good for referring to prior to getting in contact with a member again and also for praying specifically for them. It can be encouraging to see when prayers for members have been answered. I’ll also include a note to remind me when to contact them again.

Download ‘What’ document template.

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

010: ABLE TO TEACH

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010: Able to Teach

When Paul writes that “an overseer, therefore, must be… able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2), what does he mean?

There are lots of different answers out there, but the most convincing one I’ve found is from Jonathan Leeman in a 9Marks Mailbag. His answer is that able to teach means that an elder is someone who rightly teaches the Bible. “An able teacher is someone who holds fast to sound doctrine and can faithfully communicate that doctrine to others.”

Able to teach doesn’t necessary mean preaching from the pulpit or teaching from the front. It does however mean being “able to open the Bible and reliably explain what it says so that people rightly understand” when being asked a question or caring for members of the church.

To prove his point, Leeman surveys the Pastoral Epistle, where we see that:

An elder must not teach different doctrines, especially those that promote empty speculation. “As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith.” (1 Timothy 1:3-4)

An elder must have as the goal of their teaching love, a good conscience, and sincere faith. “Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)

An elder’s teaching must match his life. “Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16)

An elder must teach doctrines that agree with the sound teaching of Christ. “If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words.” (1 Timothy 6:3-4)

An elder must hold onto the pattern of sound teaching that is found in the Scriptures. “Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:13)

An elder must correctly handle the word of truth. “Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

An elder will avoid empty speech which departs from the truth. “Avoid irreverent and empty speech, since those who engage in it will produce even more godlessness… They have departed from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and are ruining the faith of some.” (2 Timothy 2:16, 18)

An elder will patiently and gentle instruct the truth to those who disagree. “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. (2 Timothy 2:24-25)

An elder’s teaching should lead to repentance and a knowledge of the truth. “Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 2:25)

An elder will teach God’s Word not their wisdom. “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2)

An elder will hold firmly to the word of God and instruct with sound doctrine those who contradict it. “…holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9)

An elder will not teach what is empty or deceptive in order to make a profit. “For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party. It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly.” (Titus 1:10-11)

An elder will be sound in the faith and doesn’t get involved in myths and false teaching. “This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of people who reject the truth.” (Titus 1:13-14)

An elder’s teaching will be sound and recognised by others as being so. “But you are to proclaim things consistent with sound teaching… Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching… Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that any opponent will be ashamed, because he doesn’t have anything bad to say about us.” Titus 2:1, 7, 8)

Leeman is not denying the need for a man to be competent in his communication, but his first concern, as the survey of the Pastorals show, is that the content they teach needs to be faithful and consistent with what Scripture teaches.

Able to teach = Being able to faithfully communicate sound doctrine.

Or as Sam Emadi puts it, “Able to teach” is mainly about doctrinal integrity, not rhetorical ability—but it is a little bit about rhetorical ability. After all, you have to communicate sound doctrine to teach it.”

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

009: THE CHILDREN’S TALK

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008: The Children’s Talk

For as long as I’ve been going into church (all my life), there has been during the morning service, a children’s talk, sermon, address, message (whatever you want to call it). I’ve done hundreds of them over the years (training as a youth and children’s worker has helped with this).

The children’s talk is that 5 minute (plus or minus 2 minutes) slot in the service that is dedicated to communicating to children, often prior to them going off to Sunday school. They seem to have been a feature of services for over 100 years, both in the UK and USA. Alexander Macleod in 1880 suggested that “every morning service, for one ten minutes out of the ninety, let the minister be in direct contact with the souls of the children.” J.G. Merrill two years earlier had published a collection of five minute sermons to children. Henry B. Robins writing in 1918, “The children’s sermon is an established feature in many an order of service, the children under twelve being dismissed at its conclusion, with the hymn just preceding the regular morning sermon.”

For a time I stopped including them in the morning service at Banstead Community Church (they are not an essential element of worship), but now are more convinced of their value, as I have ever been.

Why?

Firstly, it is a way of communicating to children that they are an important part of church life, they are valuable to Jesus, and that they can know and understand God’s Word.

Secondly, it is not just for the children, it is for the whole church to learn together. Maybe the children’s talk is better described as the church family talk or all-age talk. I haven’t come up for a better name for it, yet.

Thirdly, with a number in the congregation at church being elderly and no longer able to focus (or in a few cases stay awake) for the whole 30 minute sermon, the children’s talk has become their sermon.

Fourthly, it can be used to teach topics that may not fit easily into the teaching programme of the church.

Finally, if they are decent, the adults generally will enjoy them and engage with them.

So, I think there are good reasons to include a clear and concise 5 minute slot, aimed at the children but for all the church, in the morning service. But what to do in them?

When writing a kids talk, I have two words in mind: Grab and Hit. I am to grab the children’s attention by asking for answers to questions or giving them something to look at; usually it is both. After this I look to hit them with the truth found in God’s Word, before closing with a short prayer.

Here are some ideas of subjects for kids talks that I’ve done over the years with outlines (more than 300 kids talks) that can easily be adapted to individual contexts.

  1. Overview of the Bible Story – I’ve done a series called The Big Bible Adventure (for a school assembly) which tells the story of the Bible in 104 talks.
  2. Summaries of each book of the Bible – I’ve done a series that does this called The Big Read which has 51 talks.
  3. Doctrinal Series – I’ve got two of these on the go Big Words that End in Shun! (11 talks) and Big Questions (22 talks) which is based on the New City Catechism.
  4. Discipleship Series – on the Apostle’s Creed, 10 Commandments, and Lord’s Prayer. So far I’ve done the Lord’s Prayer in 13 talks.
  5. Heroes of the Faith – biographical talks on famous figures from church history. My Superheroes of the Faith series has 16 talks in it at present.
  6. Hymn of the Month – using the children’s talk to explain the words of a well-known hymn. I’ve done 3 talks on Hymns so far.
  7. Special Occasions (Advent, Christmas, Easter, Harvest etc).
  8. Other ideas would be talks that either introduce what the children will be learning in Sunday school or which preview the passage that will be preached on.

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

008: DIFFERENT GATHERINGS, DIFFERENT FOCUSES

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008: Different Gatherings, Different Focuses

The apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 14:26 that when the church gathers together, everything is to be done for the strengthening of the church. They should promote growth in holiness, in love for God, each other, and those who are currently lost in their sins, as well as in sound doctrine.

When I first read The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, one of the stand out parts of the book was the discussion about the different weekly gatherings and how can they can be used effectively to cultivate health in a local church. They suggested using different weekly gatherings for different purposes. For example, using the Adult Education Hour as the main equipping time, the Sunday Morning Service as the main feeding time, the Sunday Evening Service as the main family time of the church, the Wednesday Evening Service as the main study time, and the Members’ Meetings as the main administrative time.

At Banstead Community Church, we’ve taken their approach and adapted it for our setting with each gathering having a particular role or aim:

The Sunday Morning Service is our key weekly gathering and time of corporate worship. This is the main feeding time of the church where there is an expository sermon preached complemented by Bible readings, hymns and songs, and prayers.

The Sunday Evening Service is our main equipping time. The focus is on teaching that strengthens their convictions, character, or competences.

The Thursday Prayer Meeting is our main family time, where reports of service and evangelistic opportunities are given, ministry prayed for, along with individual needs, other local churches, and national and oversea mission (with regular mission speakers sharing about the work).

The Church Meetings (which take the place of the Thursday Prayer Meeting) are the main administrative time. This is where the vision is shared, plans and membership updates are given, elders are appointed, financial information is discussed, so that the church runs in an orderly way.

These are the primary gatherings of the church and the ones which we want all the members to attend as far as they are able to.

In addition, we also run a number of optional EQUIP groups which are less frequent (fortnightly or monthly) that are small group Bible studies for particular groups like Youth, Men, Women or with a particular focus such as Line by Line Bible Studies. The aim of these small groups is to give opportunity for those who attend to instruct one another, encourage one another, and pray for one another in light of what they’ve studied.

The hope is that these gatherings together will give the church a balanced diet which under God’s grace bring health and maturity.

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

007: NOT FORGETTING THE ‘CAN’T COMES’

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007: Not forgetting the ‘Can’t Comes’

We’ve just begun gathering ‘in person’ again for our morning service at Banstead Community Church. We are continuing to livestream the service as we have done from my shed for the last 7 months because more than half the church can’t come or because of the restrictions in place are choosing not to come.

This category of ‘Can’t Come’ is not a new one.

It has always been there.

The older members who are shut-in’s (in their homes or care homes) and are no longer able to attend services. The members who have serious health conditions. The parents with special needs children who are unable to cope with attending a service. Those whose work shifts clash. Even those who have gone away on holiday and find themselves where there is no church that preaches the gospel.  And so on…

Have we been aware of them?

A positive that hopefully will come out of the COVID crisis is churches who are more aware of those who can’t come, when there is no virus to keep them away, and who better care for them.

Johnny Prime has written a great article about how to do this with some great practical suggestions.

First, he suggests prioritising regular contact with those who can’t attend by phoning or better visiting them, whilst encouraging others in the church to make contact with them (Sunday afternoon might be a good time to do this!)

Next, thinking of ways to help them feel included in the live in-person service. This could be done by referring to them in the welcome or having a pre-recorded video of them doing the Scripture reading or praying (or children’s talk or giving testimony).

Then, keeping some activities online such as a prayer meeting on ZOOM.

Finally, by reminding them, that even if it feels like the rest of the church has forgotten them (which hopefully it doesn’t), the Lord has not forgotten them.

My hope is that when everything is ‘back to normal’ at Banstead Community Church we won’t forget that there are still those who can’t come out for all kinds of reasons and we will serve them better. At the very least, we will definitely be looking to continue live-streaming our services and having some prayer meetings on ZOOM.

(Photo: Julia Joppien)

006: PROCESSING YOUR EMAIL

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006: Processing your email

Having a plan for dealing with email is a must!  The most helpful article I’ve read on processing and organising the constant flow of emails into your inbox is one by Tim Challies called Taming the Email Beast.

He writes that with every email you receive, you have a few options:

Trash it: “If it is junk or something that is irrelevant to you, erase it.”

Archive it: “If it is something you may need in the future, but that requires no action on your part, archive it.”

Reply to it: “If you can reply to it in no more than ten or fifteen seconds and with little mental exertion, do that right away.”

Move it to your Reply folder: “If you cannot reply to it in just a few seconds or if it will require some thought, move it to your reply folder.”

If you do this for every email that comes in, you will achieve Inbox Zero.

But for this process to work smoothly, you need to have three locations set up in your email:

Inbox: “A place to receive new email.”

Reply: “A place to hold email you will reply to at a later time.”

Archive: “A place to hold email you need to keep for archive purposes.”

I’ve been using this method for more than 5 years and it works well!

One final comment that has proved so helpful is this one from Kristin Muhlner, which reminds me that I don’t need to reply to every email.  She writes, “I love email…But unless I’m specifically asked a question, I don’t respond.”  

(Photo: Julia Joppien)