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| (Sterling State Park, Monroe) |
Describing the nature of pastoral ministry, Thomas Oden sums up what is true of all forms of ministry:
"The working minister is in a co-working ministry day after day with Christ's own ministry.... This is the centerpiece of care of souls: Jesus the overshepherd of our shepherding.... It is not what the pastor is out there doing that counts, but what Christ is doing through the pastor." (In Stephen Seamands, Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service, Kindle Locations 181-183)
Don't do things and baptize them later with prayer. Instead, meet with Jesus, and join in what he is building.
My primary task, this morning, and always, is to stay connected with Christ. Christ in me, through me, with me, beside me, ahead of me, involving me, shepherding me.
I am a co-worker with God. People are God’s cultivated garden, the house he is building. (1 Cor. 3:9)
