Providence Church

Last week we launched one of the most exciting ministries in our brief history, the Pastoral Care team. I want to share our vision for this ministry so that you can pray for, make use of, and possibly serve with these beloved people in our church.

One of the things we dream of seeing at Providence Church is a culture of response. When God speaks through song, sermon or prayer we want us to stop…and pray, repent and seek reconciliation to God and others. We want people sitting and praying with one another after a service or crying together in joy or pain to be a standard picture of how much we care for one another. We want to pray for the sick, doubting, confused, depressed or tired. We desperately need to provide avenues for people to partake of the graces of God, not just hear about them. People hear about the compassion of Jesus every week, but how many experience it through the ministry of the local church? People hear that God longs to connect to them and teach them but how many hear from God through godly counsel? It is our job as a local church to see this happen and to build a team of experienced, caring people to care for the family of God we call Providence Church.

There can be no deep meaningful relationship with God without being helped, sharpened and loved by his children. We are built to need community. From the beginning God spoke saying, “it is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18), so God made a helper suitable for him. Since then God has been building communities of people to join together in their pursuit of Him.

I would like to give you a couple of reasons to celebrate the pastoral care team and begin making their ministry a regular part of your spiritual journey. They help us do many things, but I will just list four:

Helps us repent, honor God and pursue joy
The Bible says that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and time and time again we have dishonored God, thereby costing ourselves joy. The problem with our sin is that many times we can’t see it. Jesus describes our personal sin as a “log in our eye” but even with a log in our eye we concentrate on the “speck” in our brothers eye. Jesus says that we should deal with our sin and remove our “log” before we help our brother with his speck. So Jesus teaches one of the most detrimental aspects of sin is how easy it is to overlook the sin in our lives. Sin can be described as having mustard on your face. If you are eating with someone who loves you, they are going to tell you so that you can clean it up, but if you are eating with someone who could care less and doesn’t want to be in an uncomfortable situation they are going to keep silent and hope you find out on your own. The reason we have commands to “confess to one another” (James 5:16) is because one of the main tools God uses to refine us is Christian brothers and sisters.

Helps us find care, compassion and ears to listen
Some of the most difficult times in life turn into some of the loneliest times in life as well. When tragedy strikes or life gets hard we tend to isolate ourselves and convince ourselves that nobody understands the trouble we are experiencing. God has given us church leaders and pastors to listen and cry with, celebrate with and pray with you. We are commanded to seek people to pray for us in several situations. If you are sick, you should ask for prayer. (James 5:14) If you are suffering, you should ask for prayer. (James 5:13) If you are overly stressed, you should ask for prayer. (Matthew 26:36, 40-41) When you have questions or doubts, you should ask for prayer. (Matthew 21:21-22) The list goes on and on. An essential piece of a vibrant walk with God is allowing others to step in and fight for you in prayer, encouragement and service. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

Helps us define the next step in our spiritual journey
From time to time we need a little help discerning the next step in our spiritual journey. Should you join a community group, a study group or a missions group? Should you begin mentoring someone or find a mentor for yourself? How should you study the Bible or pray? We need practical help for growing in our faith. Meeting with the pastoral care team after a service is a great time to respond to what you’ve heard and figure out appropriate next steps. Many times we walk out of church inspired or challenged, but unaware of what to do. These people serve us by acting as spiritual coaches that help us see what’s next!

Helps us fully comprehend the gospel
One of the most important and valuable tasks of this team is to share the gospel with us and clarify what it means to follow Christ. Each week many people are confronted with the gospel for the first time and this team gives them the ability to respond and make a decision for Christ. We have never given a traditional “invitation” that calls people to the front of the room to accept Christ, and this gives us a warm and casual alternative. One of the biggest critiques of the Christian faith is our high pressure proselytizing. The Pastoral Care team gives people a chance to just ask questions and move at their own pace. Seeing people begin to enjoy a relationship with God is the most important task of the local church, and one of the best times to see that happen is now after each weekend service!

As you can see, I could list a dozen reasons that we are excited about this ministry and how it serves our church. We dream of a church where responding to the Word of God by getting counseled or prayed for is the norm, not a special circumstance. In the early church we see evidence that most of their time was spent not singing, preaching or eating, but talking to one another about spiritual things and praying for one another. When people respond to God by connecting to one another that is church!