A few years ago my wife and I left the cozy comfort of our Midwestern life to partner in gospel ministry on Boston's South Shore. I remember the moment I pulled our U-Haul into our new driveway. We were greeted by several members of our new congregation. The nerves quickly wore off as we received warm smiles and hugs, then moving help and loads of gift cards to local bistros.
Those first few months were wonderful: my ministry initiatives were generally successful; lots of energetic congregants flocked to my planning and training meetings; we ate well. I became excited to dig in and partner with this church. Rocky soil? Please.
Then the honeymoon wore off. Volunteer numbers dropped. Work hours increased. I grew tired, lacked motivation, and picked up some grumpiness that I couldn't shake. My senior pastor took a sabbatical, which meant piling on more preaching and leadership responsibilities.
During this rough patch God taught me several lessons, but one piercing question really stuck out: Do I really trust the Word through the Spirit to do the work of ministry? As I pondered this question I slowly recognized that my weariness and discouragement were partly due to trusting things outside God's Word. But the Bible is crystal clear: the Word through the Spirit is enough (Mk 4:26-29; Rom 1:16-17; 2 Tim 3:14-17). This is a glorious and freeing truth. And it means something profound for the difficult work of making disciples in New England.
Here are seven ways I'm attempting to prioritize the distinctive work of the Word.... Keep reading
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