We should not be passive participants in the work of the church as members, even when it comes to the sermon or the life of our pastor. He is meant to serve you, and you him. He is meant to teach you, but you are not therefore absolved from the commandment to make disciples.

“Five-billion people.” I answered, “There are five-billion people online right now, according to the latest data.”
I had been asked to come on the radio to talk about three news stories that stood out to me from the previous week. Two had come to mind easily, but for the third I decided to look for something encouraging; I wanted to find a story about a local pastor doing the work of the gospel or who was being celebrated for ministry faithfulness.
I searched everywhere.
I found nothing.
The “five-billion people online” statistic jumped out to me on my search, and so I decided I would use it to make a point. If there are that many people online, then a good deal of them must be Christian. So where are all the stories about tremendous pastors? I know they’re out there ready to be told! Yet, it doesn’t seem like anyone is telling them.
I finished the interview by saying something to the effect of, “I’d just love to use my time here to say how thankful I am for my pastor. He loves our church and loves God, and that might sound boring, but I think that is awesome.”
It wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t controversial, it was just true.
As much as I would love to see more people publicly praising their pastors, the work starts closer to home. In the first two installments of this series, I’ve talked about what a sermon is and how to get the most out of a sermon each Sunday, but in this article, I want to look at how and why we should encourage the man standing in the pulpit. How do we love our pastors well, submit to them, and encourage them? To be clear, this is an area we all need to grow in—myself included.
Be most known for encouragement. “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. 5:12–13).
I make it a point to ensure everyone whom I love, knows that I love them. The words “I love you” hold a specific weight when spoken to my wife, but they aren’t reserved merely for her. Jesus taught us that people would know who we belong to and whose disciples we are if we “have love for one another” (John 13:35). It is, therefore, no surprise that this extends to our leaders. Pastor Jared C. Wilson has mentioned on several occasions that he never leaves the pulpit without expressing his love for the congregation.
If your pastor did this, would that expression of love be reciprocated?
My guess is that if you’re plugged into a local church, whatever differences you might have with your pastor, you do love him. Like a cheesy 90s rom-com, however, this love might go days, weeks, or years without being revealed, leading both parties to question its existence.
This commandment to love is accompanied by another that seems to be intrinsically linked to the first. “Esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”
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Your pastor has in mind the decades old addict who turns up each week who he’s sure is about to receive faith for the very first time, the struggling saint who feels incapable of giving up their nightly gossip, and the bleary-eyed suffering servant who has gone through great pain to be here. Preaching is for the one closest to God, furthest from him, and for the preacher himself. Preaching is for the congregation, for a sinful choir who needs to be led to worship God once more.

Once every three weeks I serve in the kid’s service at church—a huge blessing that allows me to share the gospel regularly with the youngest in our midst. The main hall and the kid’s hall sit parallel to one another and share a hallway, so when we take the kids to the toilet, we ask them to stay silent. One day, returning to our hall, I turned to the kids and said, “We need to be quiet now, because the sermon is happening.” They all agreed, zipped their lips, and followed me back. Just before we went entered though, one of the girls turned to me and whispered, “Mr. Adsum, may I ask a question,” to which I nodded. “What’s a sermon?” she asked.
It was a fair question. One I’m sure is shared by members of churches around the world, both young and old. It reminded me of a story I heard a few years ago, of a new Christian turning to the pastor and asking why they sang “Group-Karaoke style” during the service. (In fairness, Karaoke was the new believer’s only experience of seeing words on a screen set to music.)
To many Christians, both new and old, there are likely to be things about the way church works which remain a mystery simply because they feel it’s too awkward to ask a question. Whilst there are hundreds of books on preaching for the edification and education of pastors, these books are usually inaccessible for laymen, and so the question marks remain. Perhaps that’s you?
If so, thank you so much for reading this article. This is the first of three articles, which I hope will help to clear up some misconceptions about preaching, explain how we as church members can support and uphold the work of the preacher, and offer some practical advice on how to get the most out of the sermon each Sunday.
This is the Word of the Lord
Preaching and prayer are intrinsically linked, the former is fed by the latter and fails without it. The preacher must submit himself to the Lord and take seriously the responsibility he has to deliver the word of God faithfully. His work isn’t about feeding his own thoughts and opinion, but rather inviting you to feast on every word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:3). A wonderful example of this pastoral submission is the following prayer from eighteenth-century preacher Augustus Toplady.

Your pardoning voice I come to hear,To know you as you are:Your ministers can reach the ear,But you must touch the heart. (Augustus Toplady, modernized by the writer of the article)

Depending on your denomination or church background, these words—“This is the Word of the Lord”—may be familiar to you. Often spoken after the reading of the Scripture and followed by the sermon. Though some will inevitably become numb to the repetition of these words, their potency, as well as their use in explaining the purpose and practice of preaching, is invaluable.
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