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Pastor, Are You Discouraged? Ask Yourself These Questions

1. How has the Lord used the labors of faithful men in the past to lay a foundation for your Christian life and work today?

2. Has the Lord ever used you to mentor a future pastor, missionary, teacher or other full-time Christian worker?

3. How has the Lord used you in ministry outside your congregation?

4. Has the Lord given you the gift of writing to produce a written legacy of faith and devotion for others?

5. Has the Lord given you the opportunity to sit beside a dying member of your church and hear the person’s testimony that included gratitude for your ministry?

6. Can you think of people whose faith has been strengthened under your ministry?

7. Consider the most difficult time you have experienced in ministry. How was God’s name exalted or His purpose accomplished as a result of that experience?

Reflect upon the greatness of the God whom we serve and His abundant grace to work in and through common, clay vessels for His glory. Indeed, He has purposefully chosen us because of our inadequacy (2 Cor 3:5-6). Why? To magnify His glory! “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Cor 4:7).

*Note to church members: If you love your pastor, buy him a copy of Encouragement for Today’s Pastors. It’s available from Reformation Heritage Books, in either softcover or eBook.  

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Dr. Paul Tautges serves as senior pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Cleveland, Ohio, having previously pastored in Wisconsin for 22 years. Paul has authored eight books including Counseling One Another, Brass Heavens, and Comfort the Grieving, and contributed chapters to two volumes produced by the Biblical Counseling Coalition. He is also the consulting editor of the LifeLine Mini-Book series from Shepherd Press. Paul is a teaching fellow Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). He and his wife, Karen, are the parents of ten children (three married), and have two grandchildren. Paul enjoys writing as a means of cultivating discipleship among believers and, therefore, blogs regularly at Counseling One Another.