Reflections of a Ministry Worker
As announced, Joshua Lowe, who was our Ministry Worker, has transitioned out of his role here at GBC. He reflects on his time here over the past 5 years, and thanks God for the many ways God has also used the church to grow him.
Thanksgiving and Growth
There is so much to praise and thank God for during my time as a Ministry Worker at Grace Baptist Church. God has grown me so much during these past 5 years and he deserves all the praise and glory for how he has worked in my life. I am also incredibly thankful to all the members of GBC who gave me this opportunity. It is not something that I take for granted. I have been deeply encouraged by how both the elders and the members of GBC have cared for me and my family and loved us well during this time. As I reflect my time as a ministry worker of GBC, allow me to share a few things I have learned:
Growth in God’s Word
Throughout my time as a ministry worker, I have been stretched by God’s Word through the pursuit to teach it clearly and faithfully. I have been given many opportunities to teach God’s Word which has grown my understanding of who God is through Scripture.
The protégé effect is a learning phenomenon where preparing to teach, or actually teaching material to others significantly improves your own retention and understanding of that topic. So when you teach God’s Word, it actually enhances your own understanding of Scripture. This is definitely something that I have personally experienced. As I applied myself to teach passages of Scripture, I have grown deeper in my understanding of God’s Word. That in turn also grew my love for God who speaks to us through the Bible.
So if you also want to grow deeper in your relationship with God, continue to study Scripture. But more than that, I challenge you to also teach others the truths of Scripture. Your love for God and His Word will increase when you teach it.
God’s servants are humble and dependent on Him
When I first stepped into this role, I foolishly and proudly thought I would be an amazing full time ministry worker. I had grown up in the church so my whole life I thought I knew what serving God was supposed to be like. In many ways I was dependent on my own skills and wisdom.
God humbled me very quickly. As good as I thought I was, I quickly found out that I had a lot to work on. After one of my first few sermons, the staff team gave me feedback on my sermons. It was incredibly humbling hearing numerous ways I could improve. As I continued to get feedback throughout my ministry, this was a recurring theme: I was not as good at ministry as I thought I was.
Now I have not always taken feedback well, but I have always tried to keep Proverbs 12:15 in mind: “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice”. I don’t want to be a fool, I don’t think any of us want to be. So throughout my time on staff, God has humbled me for my own good. God wants us to be wise, that is why He puts people into our lives to help us see our blind spots.
As God has humbled me (and continues to humble me), I have concluded that God is the one who is ultimately at work. I have learned that I need to be dependent on Him in ministry to grow His people and to grow me. God never needed me to be His worker, all ministry belongs to God and I am just His servant. Praise God that He is good at ministry, because very often I am not very good.
Prayer Points and Exhortation
As I transition out as a full time ministry worker, I would love you to be praying for me. Please pray that I will be able to love my wife and lead my family well. Pray that as my family tries to figure out new schedules, we would grow in patience and grace towards one another. Please pray that my family will continue to trust God during this transition period and that we will continue to look to Him to provide for us.
Now transitioning out of full time ministry does not mean I will step back from ministry altogether, it just means I will be serving God in a different capacity. Even as I step off of a full time ministry position, I will still be praying and caring for the members of the church. I will continue to love and disciple my brothers and sisters in Christ. I will continue to evangelise and preach the good news of Jesus Christ. I will still be doing all of the things no matter what vocation God has given to me.
You do not have to be a full time pastor or full time ministry worker to be involved in ministry. In fact most of us will not be in ministry full time, but we can still faithfully serve God wherever He places us.
So pray for continued faithfulness in ministry and using my time well. Pray that I will continue to have an energy and zeal for the gospel and for God’s church.
At this stage GBC is still stuck with me, I will still be a member of GBC working in ministry with all of you, just in a different capacity. So let us continue in gospel ministry together.