Pastor’s Appreciation Day came early this year. The Pastor Parish Relations Committee of the church which I am attached to sent me one of my favourite foods: pizza, to celebrate Pastor’s Appreciation Day.
I stumbled upon a website: describingwords.io
What do you think are the words that are used to describe the pastor?
Here are what I found https://describingwords.io/for/pastor
I picked out a few interesting ones from the list: useful and beloved; affectionate and vigilant; pained and pious; solemnly sulky and glum; loving and laborious; enlightened and vigilant; well-trained, tactful; cheery, shabby.
My favourite one from the list: “now gray-hair”, which is true for me.
I have also come up with a list, but my list is my “joyful” list. They are about my joy of being a pastor:
- Seeing people come to know Jesus
…especially when they had been struggling in life on their own. It is so wonderful to see the change in them after they had accepted Jesus Christ. They are now filled with hope, love, peace and joy of the Lord. I have been blessed to see these transformations. Apart from these, baptising people are touching moments for me personally. I have baptised the elderly in their homes, baptised people in the river during missions trip, and baptised people in the church service. These were meaningful moments to me.
- Serving together with others who love the Lord
One thing I am always grateful for are the brothers and sisters in Christ who serve the Lord together with me with one heart, one voice and one mind. It is always so joyful serving together with them. They had made a lot of sacrifices in ministry as well as putting in their time, effort, sweat and tears, and money. It always amazes me how much they love the Lord and they in turn encouraged me in my ministry.
- Sending out full-time workers
It brings me great joy when a young person confided that they would like to be a pastor in the future. I would talk more to them about the ministry and get them more involved in serving.
- Overwhelmed by love from church members
Often I received messages and texts from church members. I know they are thinking of me. During the lockdown, we received food, messages and love. My parents and I are ever so appreciative of their love.
- Preaching of God’s Word
When church members told me that my message spoke to them, or they learned something from the Bible studies, it brings me great joy. To me, it is the greatest thing in the world: we are getting paid to read God’s Word, and to preach from the Holy Bible. That is the best part of my calling.
Looking at this list, all that I can say is, “Thank you, Lord!”
