Peter was the first Lay Pastor.
New Testament
- I Peter 5:1-4 – The Magna Charta of the Lay Pastors Ministry.
[The Magna Charta (Great Charter) was a constitution guaranteeing fundamental personal and other rights to the citizens of England. It was obtained by English barons from King John on June 15, 1215. I Peter 5:1-4 is our Great Charter. It guarantees fundamental pastoral care to members of
Christ’s Church. The church is bound to both The Great Commission (Matt. 28: 19-20) AND The Great Charter. Chapter 4 in The Lay-Driven Church makes a case for a ministry-balanced church to fulfill bother Great Commission and The Great Charter. You may wish to take the people through a brief study of I Peter 5:1-4 before going further.]
- Jon 21:15-17 – Peter was the first Lay Pastor.
- Ephesians 4:11-12 – What kind of “works of service” (ministry)
will:
- Build up the Body (v.12)?
- Promote unity (v. 13a)?
- Advance maturity (v. 13b)?
NOTE: The answer is Lay Pastors Ministry.
OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE
THE MOSAIC MODEL, Exodus 18 (pp. 42-43)
- The leaders will be able to use their gifts.
- The people will be adequately cared for.
- Moses is released to fulfill his task of spiritual leader.
- He is to teach the decrees and laws of God.
- He was to show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.
- He was to select capable leaders.
- He was to deal with the more difficult matters.
- The people will share the load with him.
NOTE: This is a general ministry description for the “Moses” of every church.●
COMMENTS
in relation to In the Bible
Van Tha Bik (PIS student) says:
PACE (Prayer, Available, Contact, and Example) can bring change in the ministry because prayer is the foundation of everything in ministry, when we are pray we relationship or connects with God. The Bible shows us that Jesus himself constantly prayed and seeking the Father’s guidance in everything he did. Even in the gospel Luke we can see that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Therefore even Jesus, the Son of God needed to pray, then prayer is even more necessary for us and also we can see in James 5:16 said “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”. So when the people or ministries pray, prayer strengthens the ministry by bringing God’s presence, wisdom, and power. Without prayer a ministry is weak and directionless, but with prayer, it becomes strong and full of life.
Available is also very important for a ministry because when people make themselves availability to serve, it shows commitment and dedication to God’s work, even God uses those who are willing to serve. We can see in Isaiah 6:8 “the prophet Isaiah hears God calling and respond here I am Send me”.
Therefore when the ministries people make themselves available they become instruments of God’s work, ready to help the needy, support the weak, and guide the lost and the more ministries people are available for God’s work or others people, the stronger and more impactful the ministry becomes.
Contact is also what keeps a ministry strong. In the book of acts 2:42 we can see that the early church stayed connected in fellowship, breaking bread, and praying together. So we can understand that how building strong relationship helps in spreading God’s word and supporting one another in faith. When we stay connected with those we serve, we understand their needs better, encourage them in their journey, and create a community that grows together in faith.
Example is one of the most powerful ways to bring change in a ministry. According to the bible 1 Corinthians 11:1 we can see that “follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”.
Therefore we can understand that people are learn more from what they see than what they heard, and when ministry leaders and members live out their faith with love, humility, and integrity, it inspires other to do the same. When all these elements work together, they create a ministry that is spiritually strong, united, and growing, just as God intended.♥
Byeong, Melvin University, says:
Moses and Jethro: In the Lay Pastors Ministry, Exodus 18:18 is not to be missed, with Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, telling Moses, “…you will not be able to do this alone.” This seems to be in the same vein as Rev. Melvin’s book, “Can The Pastor Do It Alone?”.
But I want to focus here on how Moses took his father-in-law’s advice. In general, people today are not very receptive to the advice of others. In school, in the position of teacher and student, teaching and learning come naturally. However, it is not easy to give and receive advice between family members and relatives.
However, in the case of Moses and Jethro, I noticed a few things: Moses seems to have trusted his father-in-law Jethro. In Exodus 18:1, Jethro was a priest of Midian who heard God’s voice directly, praised God for delivering Egypt, acknowledged God as the King of kings, offered sacrifices to God, and fellowshipped with all the elders by eating bread together. In short, he was a man of great faith, and his friendships were good.
His father-in-law Jethro advised Moses, saying, ‘…you will not be able to do it alone,’ and in verse 24 it says, ‘…Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said,’ so he shared his work with the leaders around him. In Exodus 18:22, Moses is to be in charge of the big things, and the little things are to be done by the leaders. This is like Dr Robert Slocum of Houston, Texas, saying that Moses was a capital E-leader and the others were lowercase e-leaders.
In any case, I conclude that Moses listened to Jethro because he trusted his character and faith. How grateful we are to have trustworthy people around us…and how happy I would be if they recognised me as well.
Trust is so important in lay pastoral care that Pastor Melvin also touched on it in the basic training materials. And we know that trust is very difficult to regain once it is lost. And I think we have to be very careful with ourselves because in this day and age of complexity, speed, and the tendency for people to be very sensitive to the other person, even the smallest things can raise credibility issues. Credibility is a fair gift to everyone, no matter who they are, so I think we absolutely owe it to ourselves to keep it and handle it well.
Also if you look at the Bible, there are many stories of Jesus’ ministry which was focused on the pastoral care, not evangelizing, furthermore, I found Nagaland church need really pastoral care ministry. Two illustrations are there. In Korea, I have studied PACE with some of Naga students. One was a doctor of archaeology, and another was theology student. I have worked with them for International level.
In Nagaland, I have formally visited two churches. During my stay in Nagaland, Aloto and I were invited to churches as a speaker. The first church was around 100 congregations attended which was a rural area, there we talked about Ephesian 4:11-12; and another church was in downtown, about 1,000 congregation attended, also we talked there with same scripture, but I stressed ‘partners in ministry’ at second church. After worship service I had chance to talk with Senior Pastor, he couldn’t speak English well, so his son interpreted for his father and I. I asked pastor how was my preaching, he said it was very good and new to him, ‘partners in ministry’ and appreciated me which gave them new concept. From both churches we, Aloto and I got confidence .Nagaland church need this ministry.■