Who is a Pastor?
- The one to lead worship?
- The one to preach the sermon?
- The one to give us Christ’s Body and Blood?
- The first one to the hospital?
- The last one at the graveside?
A pastor is all of these things and more. He is the one to comfort God’s people in distress, to challenge them in complacency and, above all, to love them in each and every circumstance.
Called to Care for All
The Rev. Doug Bauman is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Columbus, Indiana. Hear how he serves God’s people.
With Water and Word
Here again you see how baptism is to be regarded as precious and important, for in it we obtain such an inexpressible treasure. This indicates that it cannot be simple, ordinary water, for ordinary water could not have such an effect. But the Word does it, and this shows also, as we said above, that God’s name is in it. And where God’s name is, there must also be life and salvation. — Large Catechism
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!””
Proclaiming the Word
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:1-2, ESV)
Take and Eat...
As a pastor you’ll be responsible for administering Christ’s Body and Blood in, with and under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. By providing this faith sustaining gift to God’s people, you’ll nurture their faith and continue to care for them throughout their lives.
From Cradle to Grave
Pastors care for God’s people throughout their entire lives. From the moment they’re born until they take their final breath, you’ll be there supporting them, strengthening their faith and continually pointing them to the cross of Christ, through the life-giving waters of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the proclamation of the Gospel.
“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”
“My office, and that of every preacher and minister, does not consist in any sort of lordship but in serving all of you, so that you learn to know God, become baptized, have the true Word of God, and finally are saved”