Pastors Are Accountable To God !!!

Message….PASTORS ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD !!!

Pastor Ken Burisek

The Ole’ Country Church

Medford, Wisconsin

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Sermon---Pastors are Accountable to God !!!

POWERPOINT…Scripture…James 3:1.… “ Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness.”

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Today’s message will help me as a pastor to be a better pastor and will help everyone here as church folks be better church folks as well.

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Our brother Dan L over there is taking a course to become a pastor…it will be especially meaningful to him …

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Today the Lord put on my heart to share a little bit of what it means to be a Pastor of a Church.

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And when I say Pastor…that not only means the Pastor…but his entire family…it includes his wife and his children as well.

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Pastors and their families have a very unique job…God has entrusted to them the most precious assignment in the universe….the spiritual well-being of God’s family…the church.

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If a pastor becomes ineffective….the very souls of his or her church family are in great danger.

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It’s not a game…it’s not playing church…it’s not about being “nice-nice” to each other…we’re in a no holds barred war against Satan and the forces of darkness for the very hearts…minds…and souls of every human being on planet earth.

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Folks…a Pastors job is to Preach the truth of God’s word…preach it boldly…because people’s eternity is at stake.

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When a Pastor preaches from the word of God…and we don’t like what we are hearing…that doesn’t make it any less true.

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When something a Pastor preaches rubs us the wrong way…it might just mean that God is trying to get through to us…think about this…it might get us angry…it might get us upset…but think about it…our “BEEF” isn’t with the Pastor at all…our “BEEF” is against God’s word and maybe even against God Himself.

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Pastors and their families live under incredible pressures and Satan stands ready to leap on them at every opportunity.

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Pastors and their families lives are played out like they’re goldfish in a in a fishbowl…with the entire congregation and even the community watching their every move.

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Pastors are expected to have model families…to have “perfect“ kids…to be perfect people….to always be available day or night…24 hours a day…7 days a week…365 days a year…and to never be down and to have all the answers any time we need advice.

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Those are mind boggling things to put on anyone…yet we are disappointed if a pastor becomes overwhelmed…seems depressed…lets us down or maybe even totally burns out.

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POWERPOINT…That's why God has instructed us to recognize His servants.1 Timothy 5:17 says…. "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching"

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So how can we honor our Pastors and their families…a kind word…a thank you…a pat on the back…a hug…a handshake…a smile…or maybe a high five for a good message….or just a “well done” ….it’s the little kindnesses mean the most

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I have made a good friend of an African brother in Ghana Africa through the internet…I call him my African Angel he sends me encouraging words just when I need them the most…and what he tells me is always exactly what I needed to hear…Praise the Lord…

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As a body of believers we need to encourage not only the pastor…but each and every brother and sister in Christ.

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But even though the Lord tells us that our church leaders are to receive double-honor…a pastor is also responsible to always preach the truth…because they are also doubly accountable to God for everything they say and do as well.

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Today we see so many pastors preaching pathetic…powerless messages because they are preaching their pocketbooks and not their bibles.

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They’re afraid they might offend someone and they might leave the church taking their tithes and offerings with them.

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POWERPOINT…If it comes down to money or doing the right thing…we’re totally missing the mark because God’s word says in Matthew 6:24... “"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

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May God have mercy on those pastoral gutless “whimps”…

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POWERPOINT…as it says in 2 Timothy 4:3.… “for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear”

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POWERPOINT…James 3:1 warns Pastors that they will be judged much more harshly than the people in a congregation…. “not many of you should presume to be teachers my brothers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly”