Pastors Appreciation Sermon by Pastor Chris Bowen

[Music] Pasteur's give out every single day of their life and sometimes they need a day just to sit back so that you can show them how much you appreciate them do I have somebody in the house today that really appreciates the gift that God has given to this house the Bible says in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 and beginning with verse number 12 the message says it like this and now friends we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience overwhelm them with your appreciation and love so today we're doing exactly that we have come to honor the amazing pastors of this house a man after 22 years of being in ministry and I heard them say 25 years of marriage I think God that they're still holding on anybody thankful for that they're holding on and doing what God has called them to do so let me run some facts by you today if I may the pastor of the church that we're in right now of course we know it's a very difficult position he cannot please everybody but we have to try to please everybody that comes through the door so if he has several children we know that people say he has too many kids he has no children he were saying that he is setting a bad example if he is young we say that he lacks experience if his hair or is gray or falling out in that fact he's too old for the young people if he preaches from notes we say that he has a cancer man and he's too dry if he doesn't use notes we simply say that he's not studied and he's not deep enough if he is attended to the poor people in the church we claim that he is playing to the grandstand but if he pays attention to the wealthy we say that he's an aristocrat if he suggests a changes for improvement of the church he is a dictator if he makes no suggestion then he is a figurehead if he uses too many illustrations he neglects the Bible but if he doesn't use in the illustration he doesn't make his point clear if he condemns the wrong then he's cranky if he doesn't preach against sin then he's a compromiser if he fails to play somebody he's hurting the church and and he ought to leave if he tries to please everybody said he's a fool if he preaches about money he's about money and he's a grabber if he doesn't preach about spiritual giving he is probably short of developing people if he drives an old car he shames his congregation but if he drives a new car he is selling for the affection of things on the earth if he preaches all the time that people get tired of hearing one man preach if he invites a guest speaker he is shrieking his responsibility if he doesn't take a salary that's what he should do if he receives a large salary he's a mercenary but if it receives a little salary well that's what he deserves anyway so can you see that it's hard and difficult to be sitting in the position of a pastor today anybody see that today according to the pastor care network 80% of pastors believe that ministry has negative impact upon their family well 33 percent say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family fifty percent feel unable to meet the demands of the job and the high demands 70 percent say that they have lower self image and lower self esteem since they began to pastor 40 percent report of a serious conflict with a parishioner at least one time a month and 70 percent a pastor say that they have no considered close friends 50 percent have considered leaving the ministry in the last three months and fifty percent also say that those who go into full-time ministry will drop out within the first five years 94% of clergy feels that the pressure a pastor and 57% have physical conditions because of their responsibility what 4,000 churches will open this year 7,000 churches will shut down and this month alone 2,800 pastors will leave the pulpit never to return because of the demands on their life so today that's why you're having pastor Appreciation Day well you have a pastor I think you need to stand with a standing ovation and the man and woman of God a thank you for serving God with all that is in them so this is some of the reasons that I just gave you of why you should lift up the hands of your pastor I want to look for just a moment today it's a story of Moses and the two men that honored and helped him now I want you to picture the story of Moses here where Moses had a literally millions of followers but the Bible teaches us that he only had two that was willing to hold his hands up so let me ask today here at Dominion Chapel if there's somebody willing to hold up the hands of your pastor a man is there anybody willing to hold up the hands y'all don't be shame y'all acting like you afraid to raise up your head somebody raise up your hand if you're willing don't looking sister pastor she are both hands up she said I surrender baby I surrender Amen all right you go girl we gotta hurry hey Megan okay well remember that the average member here that stays in the church is two years and two months and the average pastor stays at his local church one year and eight months so today we honor a pastor that has stuck it out to the end and now has a greater vision for what God is doing well somebody help him raise his hands as he leads this church to the next level any Bible Eve you're going to another level do you believe that 2018 is gonna be a dynamic year do you believe that's going to be a year of growth a year of expansion and you're moving walls a year of Prayer a year of healing a year of financial blessing then you have got to uphold the hands of your pastor the pressures that pastors face today are great the resources that God provides are as well and one of the greatest resources that God will give him is you I I don't I can't even express to you of how much pressure I was under as a pastor of a mega church it was a lot of pressure but you know what I didn't even realize that until the very first day that I stepped out of the pulpit I went to another church of about 9,000 I settled the front row and all the sudden the ushers got into an argument about Midway of the church I punch my wife and I said this that is not my problem the communion was spilled on the floor as they were preparing and somebody was trying to rush and get the rag to get the grape juice out of the white carpet and I looked at my wife and I said that's not my problem I looked at the preys semen the mics wouldn't come on and the sound man was panicking and everybody would see what was happening in then they came on and the my squealed and guess what I said that's not my problem I realized today that a lot of people don't understand the pressure that your pastor is under the resources that God has given him is you every person in the church can encourage him and he has pleaded to you for this coming Tuesday and Wednesday to do that and I encourage every person that makes that happen so let's look at the power for example that Moses has given to us it was a time of war for Israel but this is the ancient war and the enemy was not easily to spot the Amalekites were on the attack and in Deuteronomy chapter 25 verses 17 and 18 the Amalekites attacked Israel from behind attacking the weak the staggering and of the faint how many all know that the enemy will attack the weakest link a man if there is a weak weak in the worship team that's where the enemy is going to come in if the weak link is in the praise team that's where he's going to come in if the weak team is in our pastoral South that's where the enemy is going to come in years ago as a child we used to play a game called Red Rover Red Rover we dare somebody over anybody play that game you see the enemy would come through in the weakest link so I want to ask you today are you the weakest link are you the one that's not supporting the pastor are you the one when he calls to prayer meaning that you don't show are you the one that there's a conference and he never sees so today I want to ask you a question again how many of y'all are willing to hold up his hands how many of you are willing to hold up his hands Joshua was in the thick of battle when Moses standing on the top of the hill holding up a staff and as he did unto God as long as Moses held up his hands Joshua and his men were winning the battle but have you ever tried to raise up your hands for a long period of time now how many y'all know that my brother here is not going to be able to stand long until his arms get tired now posture has been at this for a long time a man and his arms have gotten tired but people will still come in and this is what we do can I can I show you what we do we just come in from the pasture and we're Sam pasture I need you to pray for me a pastor I need a sermon so what does he do he starts pouring out everything that he has into his congregation and into his flock and says I want to give you everything that I have because his harms are up he's still inside does everybody know that your pastor is human everybody realized that he hears that Superman he is not a a hero of some sort that has a bionic body he still gets weary he still gets tired he still has emotions he still gets his feelings hurt whenever you're ugly at him oh does everybody understand that but yet after this service you can fuss at him and you can go home and lay down and go to sleep but he is pondering in his mind of how he can fix the issue and so he comes back next Sunday even after you have been mean and ugly to him and he has given at all week long he has a funeral on Friday he has a wedding on Saturday but you come in anticipating another word so guess what he does he takes his chart he says God somehow while he's in his office he's praying saying lord give me another Rhema word for my congregation today and he steps down the platform and guess what happened Oh God gives him another word amen does anybody think God that your pastor it's always got a Rhema word for you are you getting tired yet you are your arms are starting to shake a little bit you're getting a little bit weary hey man I need two of my brothers to come I need somebody to help him for a minute because he looks like he's getting tired praise the Lord and so this is representing your pastor today I would have him to company his day off all right I want you to hold his hand I just want you to hold his arm up for me this is what what Moses is holding the staff up in as long e as is Joshua is winning so finally irritant hurt come and say let us help him I need you to hold his arms and make sure that he doesn't get tired because can I tell you what is happening with this church that a new building is about to take place can I get a witness from somebody no no no you're not excited enough I said I believe that a new building is coming it's it's not about a building it's not about seats it's about souls for the kingdom of God and so with the wall is pushed out how many oh no it's gonna take somebody encouraging the pastor a man it's gonna take somebody behind this wall a big in the prayer room and the Bible says that Moses having thousands and millions of followers only had two that would hold his arms up I need somebody to me in Chapel to hear me today pastor doesn't need another member he needs somebody who is going to support him he needs somebody that's going to be behind him somebody that that doesn't have to bother him but it's lifting him up in prayer that is financially saying God I go to support to ministry Jesus is free the ministry is expensive can I say that again you see God teaches us how to tie they made everybody know what time is right I tie this 10% of what God blesses us with whatever God has given us he wants us to give 10% does God need it no but why should I bring it to the church well let me ask you this go down to the Walmart fill you up a buggy and go out and see what happens to you anybody know what's gonna happen you're gonna be calling pastor saying I'm in jail that preacher told me to steal it amen the same thing when you come into God's house you can identify that what you have God has blessed you with an Apple has been created and you can eat appeal you can eat the inside of the Apple but ten percent of that Apple you are not allowed to eat the core and the seed somebody hear what I'm saying the seed has been designed for you to put in the ground so that it can flourish and make a blessing in your life my mother got one seed this year one seed a cucumber see my mother's 83 and she said baby I'm gonna plant this in your flower girl mamma don't put that seat of my flower garden I got pretty flowers she's not putting this ones I just want this one seed do you know that God has blessed my mother's seed that she put him out my flowers are dead but her vine is still growing I've got to find it's about 35 feet longer that is now cross the driveway that I'm not allowed to cross because her vine is across the driveway out of that one seed she has had 67 cucumbers from one seed but watch this she now has one cucumber left on the vine as she said maybe I'm saving this one and I'm letting the seed dry out I'm gonna plant all of them seeds next year that's what I said the devil is a lie I want grass I want flowers what are you can you imagine what God can do if you understand of how to plant a seed in this ministry man could you understand him how it would lift up the pastor's arms if we didn't have to get up and say God how are we gonna pay for this and how we gonna build that I want to speak something over this church that God will allow you to build but will allow you to build a debt-free a manner I believe that as a kingdom of God it would come together that God would give you resources to build a debt-free can you imagine what it would be to go into ministry pastor and not have another debt not to have to worry about how we're gonna get more seaside to have to worry about the light bill not to have to worry about where we're gonna get to next but are you getting tired yet you're getting there guys you're not doing your job yeah hold the pastor's harmes night because where he is going he is wanting to take you now how do you all know that you could never go higher than your head I want you to hear this you cannot go higher than the one that God has put in authority over you therefore you are here under this leadership of this amazing team and God has a ladder that you are climbing right now and he is climbing up but he will not go any higher than those that he has confidence who's holding his ladder at the bottom if you do not hold his ladder he can't take you where you need to go years ago when my boys were small I was trying to paint the top of the house just the eave and I said boys come here hold daddy's ladder real quick I've just got one paintbrush I can get that top peak and my boys are like okay daddy they're like 5 years old and I teach them how to put their foot and turn their toe up so then they're got a really good brace and so said boys hold daddy hold daddy and so daddy climbs up to the top when all the sudden I saw them in my preview vision running over there and I saw say boy spies and there's a Daddy butterfly butterfly and the chase of the butterfly to this day that peak has not been painted I got down off my ladder because I knew I could not trust them to hold my ladder let me ask you this can your pastor trust you in holding his ladder the average member stays 2 years and 2 months and then you're not feeding me anymore now this isn't happening to listen God told me years ago when people left me because I wasn't feeding them and I was working hours and hours and preparing messages God told me this if they don't know how to go to the refrigerator open the door and read for themselves and let them go he cannot feed you enough on Sunday to sustain you on Tuesday and Friday and Saturday you have got to get the Word of God for yourself are you tired yet oh look he said I'm ok why is he ok because someone is helping him thank you gentlemen give them ahead I don't want to wear them all out it's because someone is there to assist and I want to leave this message by telling you this that as long as Aaron and her held the arms of Moses he won the battle in front of this church there's a lot of battles ahead there's many of you that your marriage will go under attack there's many of you that your children will become sick there many of you that your finances will be be sought after and you better make sure that you're praying for the head that knows how to touch the grace of God in your behalf you see Joshua went into battle and Joshua's doing well for a moment but it was only when the leader had his rod up and his hands are praying over them but he got weary he got tired pastor gets tired and co-pastor gets tired but yet they come back it does anybody believe that they still have something else and so what you got to do is you just got to really believe that when they come in that they're still gonna have something even though they keep giving out that's all of it that's it I know y'all looking at my pot it's empty now you guys have finally sucked all the life out of him you have drained the pastor a man you've gotten everything out of him you've got everything that possibly you could get out of him and he comes back into the pulpit and you're saying Oh pastor give me a Rhema word old pastor but you don't know what all he's been through but somehow by the grace of God he comes back here and sure enough there's a little bit left for him to give you all over again you see you can go home and you can rest and you can sleep this afternoon but he's gonna start planning for next Sunday he's got a plan for a funeral he's got a plan for the hospital he's gonna plan for your spiritual well-being and while you are sleeping he's got to be a lonely god getting filled back up again that's the life of a pastor that is the life of a pastor oh he only works on Sunday and Wednesday I want to shoot people who say that oh it's a Sunday Wednesday job oh my gosh I realize I really am getting old I used to do this four times on Sunday today they took me in for his office I sit down two minutes are like let's go and sell ready I at least had a 15-minute break at my church they're like let's go let's do it again I'm like whoa Jesus I am a grandfather you see I want to leave you with the thought today that pastors go through things as well but while you can sit back should I try one more time I'm empty but yeah I'll try one more time problem you never believe in miracles well pastor gets back up and oh sure enough he has to give out again as if musicians would come for me please and I wanted to sing another song today good good father you guys started that and today the Lord really showed me something about your pastor he is that and this is not sacrilegious or anything but you have a good father here I want to say that again you have a good father here you have a good good father here and you need to take care of the gifting that God has put in the house people don't think we're human they just think we can go and we just get up and we encourage everybody and we're just have people ask me all the time why you say so happy so I've learned how to front a lot of stuff I've learned how to mask a lot of pain people look at me oftentimes and they see success in a big church in a big minister in a bigness and a big net but can I tell you that pastoring is the loneliest position in the world you have friends but we're not allowed to we can't just mingle because church folk will talk is that all right to say y'all lookin like um you see pastoring is the loneliest position in the world I shared with him a couple of stories that I went through as a pastor but yet I had to be the strong guy I'm I'm the pastor I'm the senior pastor I'm the founder I'm the one who motivates and encourages my father was abuse of my entire life and and and finally after 42 years had all come to a head nobody my siblings didn't speak to him for over 20 years because of what he put us through so I had to take care of him he was a meanness to me but I had to take care of him because the Bible says out of your father and your mother God he is still supposed to honor him after all this abuse it but God says honor him honor him honor him so I shop for him I took him in I did everything for him and he got mad one day because I bought him cheese dips and he wanted them without cheese now how do you buy cheese dips without cheese and I remember being so infuriated of the abuse and I finally look and I said yesterday everything is going to change everything is going to change I'm not doing this anymore I was a 42 year old grown man and he pulls out of his pocket a pistol and he says you better be right with God because the day you're gonna meet him I didn't even have enough sense to be afraid I was so frustrated and aggravated and he puts it to my head and pulls the trigger in the gun jams I am so frustrated and so aggravated at him by this point he's it were in a yard and and that it's a scene in here I am the pastor in the path the church is just three doors down and I'm humiliated the news media is out and the man puts the gun in his mouth but this time it doesn't Jam and he kills himself in my pain I've got to stand up in front of the news media I've got to stand up behind a pulpit and bury my suicide father that has abused me for 42 years and I've got to hold my head up and say but God has a plan even in the times of your distress you can't give up you've got a hold tight when on the inside I was dying I stood at the backdoor and the times of my depression and I would have to hug people's necks and encourage them when I said there's nobody see that I hurt I would get up and I would have to preach messages about joy when the inside of me feel like there was nobody in the world that understood what I was going through and the last one was my son got all the way to the World Series you guys are in the World Series you could relate he was in the ninth game at the last inning the closing pitcher this would determine their college and the University status of the World Series and I flew to Cincinnati I was sitting on the front row behind the pitcher's mound and I was I was watching my son but all of a sudden my phone rang in the middle of the 8th inning and I grabbed it I said listen this I can't I can't talk my pastor just give me two minutes please it's just aspirin and I walked out of the stadium and my son pitched the winning inning I heard the place erupted cheers and found my son on the bottom of a team as they celebrated the final pitch and I missed it for a Saints call two weeks later they left the church anyway that's what we go through Oh pastor hold on just a minute we'll be right back in and she's got a candlelit dinner made and everything ready but one of the Saints called and which I will be right back and the candles are burnt down and we come in and the roses have done wilted and the candle has burnt on the tablecloth and we find that we have neglected our family again for you that's not going to stay with us anyway can I ask today though let's break that gender my son went back to the next year played the World Series I sell in the front row I watched him win the second World Series and then become the head coach of that University God had mercy on me but I've said that to say this you don't understand the heart of a pastor nobody gets it nobody gets the children don't get it ministers of music don't get it youth pastors don't get it nobody knows until you sit in that seat you've got a portion here you got a portion there you got a portion here but he's got a here here here here here here here all over the place it all falls on him can I encourage somebody today to be an errand into her I need somebody to stay under your feet that is going to say I am supporting this man I need somebody to grab his arms when he is down and they say I'm gonna lift him up but he's discouraged I'm going to encourage him I don't have to be in his face but I'm gonna make sure that he knows I'm in God's face for him today you have done a wise thing you have said one day out to honor the man that has sacrificed so much for you and let me say on the behalf of God today as his spokesman you have found favor in the sight of God for honoring God's man let me say that again you have found favor in the sight of God for honoring God's man you have found favor in the sight of God for honoring God's man

Channel: Dominion Chapel Houston

Views: 15,433

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Id: NEa2Ti_rpQM

Length: 27min 23sec (1643 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 05 2017