Being a bi-vocational pastor is an immensely glorious, yet difficult task. I have seen and heard of the struggles from my own bi-vocational pastors. It is something that takes discipline, dedication, and gobs of grace. As I prepare to enter into the bi-vocational pastorate myself, I want to revel in the grace that God gives to the bi-vocational minister by writing to that pastor and my future self.<\/p>\n
Dear bi-vocational pastor,<\/p>\n
God loves you with an everlasting love that is signed, sealed, and secured by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your sins have been wiped clean and “righteous” is your verdict. Working to keep the lights on in the day, and ministering by nights and weekends is hard. Not to mention the family God may have given you to shepherd as well. It’s tiring, it’s grimy, and the lights don’t shine bright. But in the grease of everyday work and ministry, the grace of God shows itself great. Don’t give up. Don’t have a self pity-party. The living God of Heaven and Earth has called you to preach His Word and shepherd His people. There is no nobler task than to deliver good news to weary souls week-in and week-out. Don’t get grouchy. Don’t be jealous of other pastors who get paid a living to do the same work that you do for free. This is God’s will for you right now. You are no less of a pastor than our vocational brothers who labor alongside us. Don’t shun them, but let them be an encouragement to you, as we work for the same Lord. You may live, work, minister, and die in obscurity, having preached and walked through life with the same 50 people for 50 years. Your reward will be great.<\/p>\n
Be disciplined, have vision, and plan ahead. But don’t ever condemn yourself for writing your sermon on Saturday night. After all, the vocational “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon, wrote his sermons on Saturday. The work is hard, the time is short, and the results may not be gaudy – but the results will be eternal. It is God Himself who puts into effect our work as He sees fit; rest in that.<\/p>\n
Bi-vocational pastor, there is grace for you. Grace upon grace, in fact. Jesus loves you. He sees your labor, and it is not in vain. Our Heavenly Father smiles upon you with joy. He cherishes you and wants you. In bi-vocational ministry, His grace is sufficient for you, and His power is made perfect in your many weaknesses. No matter how deep, dark, and long the valley of the shadow of death may be, Jesus is yours, and you are His. One day, there will be no more curse-laden work to be done. On that day when the fruits of your labor are revealed, you will have nothing more to do but enjoy eternal rest in our dear Savior and friend, Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
Grace to you in our Lord Jesus Christ, \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Joshua Jenkins<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Being a bi-vocational pastor is an immensely glorious, yet difficult task. I have seen and heard of the struggles from my own bi-vocational pastors. It is something that takes discipline, dedication, and gobs of grace. As I prepare to enter into the bi-vocational pastorate myself, I want to revel in the grace that God gives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[204,274,281,354,425,557,562,567,678,679,698,699,740,765,775,826,920,922,923,1363],"class_list":{"0":"post-1231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-bi-vocational","8":"tag-christ","9":"tag-church","10":"tag-dear","11":"tag-elder","12":"tag-god","13":"tag-gospel","14":"tag-grace","15":"tag-jenkins","16":"tag-jesus","17":"tag-josh","18":"tag-joshua","19":"tag-letter","20":"tag-lord","21":"tag-love","22":"tag-ministry","23":"tag-pastor","24":"tag-pastorate","25":"tag-pastoring","26":"tag-work","27":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2668,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/pastor-as-overseer-of-worship-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":1231,"position":0},"title":"Pastor as Overseer of Worship Music","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"August 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Most people would typically understand and agree that one of the pastor's main responsibilities is the weekly preaching and teaching from the pulpit. Further, most would agree that the pastor is the overseer of the doctrine that is taught in the church, although most likely it is within the bounds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gospel"","block_context":{"text":"Gospel","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/gospel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/08\/piano.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/08\/piano.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/08\/piano.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/08\/piano.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2186,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/four-marks-of-gospel-centered-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":1231,"position":1},"title":"Four Marks of a Gospel-Centered Church","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"June 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 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It is a lonely place to be. All your other pastor friends are getting together and doing things without you. Your church members do the same. You may have kids that have grown and haven\u2019t called you in months. It may even seem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gospel"","block_context":{"text":"Gospel","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/gospel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4889,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/after-they-had-finished-breakfast\/","url_meta":{"origin":1231,"position":3},"title":"After They Had Finished Breakfast","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"March 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"15\u00a0When they had\u00a0finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,\u00a0\u201cSimon,\u00a0son of John,\u00a0do you love me more than these?\u201d\u00a0He said to him, \u201cYes, Lord; you know that I love you.\u201d He said to him,\u00a0\u201cFeed\u00a0my lambs.\u201d\u00a016\u00a0He said to him a second time,\u00a0\u201cSimon, son of John, do you love me?\u201d\u00a0He said to him, \u201cYes,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/breakfast_dawn.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6701,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/contend-for-the-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":1231,"position":4},"title":"Contend for the Faith","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"September 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio 1\u00a0Jude, a servant[a]\u00a0of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called,\u00a0beloved in God the Father and\u00a0kept for[b]\u00a0Jesus Christ: 2\u00a0May\u00a0mercy,\u00a0peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3\u00a0Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our\u00a0common salvation, I found it necessary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/09\/0619jude.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1265,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/a-small-church-in-a-mega-church-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":1231,"position":5},"title":"A Small Church in a Mega-Church World","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"February 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"There are times when pastors and members of small churches can feel discouraged simply by looking at their numbers. 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