So As Not To Be A Burden - 1 Thessalonians Series

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Our Multiply podcast is heard in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. It is translated into more than 25 languages. I am so very thankful for each translator who takes time to produce each episode in languages that his or her people can understand. The vast majority of those who listen to the Multiply podcast are bi-vocational church planters.

What does it mean to be bi-vocational?  It means you have two callings, two major responsibilities that God has called you to fulfill. You, like everyone else, have been called to take care of your family, by providing for their material, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs.  That is a full-time job!

But as a bi-vocational church planter, you have another calling, another big responsibility that you have voluntarily accepted.  You have been called to plant healthy, multiplying churches. Wow! In addition to taking care of your family and its needs, you have to take care of people who are far from God. You have accepted the awesome task of helping people who do not know Christ come to know him and to live in fellowship with Him and with other believers.

One of the major themes of the Multiply podcasts is this: “It’s not easy to be a church planter.”  You have heard me say it many times.  I say it because I have planted churches and I know how hard it is.  I say it because I have observed the sacrificial lifestyle of many other church planters. The work is hard and the material rewards are few. 

The Apostle Paul was a bi-vocational church planter. In 1 Thessalonians 2:9, Paul wrote to the young church he and his team had started in Thessalonica.  He said, “Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.”  Toil is work that is so hard it is exhausting.  Paul, Silas, and Timothy worked so hard earning a living to take care of their material needs and so hard preaching the Gospel, they were often exhausted. The work was very hard because they faced so much opposition as they preached the Gospel.  But they persevered because they loved God and they loved the Thessalonians. They spent their time and energy sacrificially to plant a healthy church. 

Why did those three men accept the toil and hardship of a bi-vocational ministry? There are two reasons I think.  The first reason is that they loved lost people very much. They longed for them to be saved.  The second reason is because they believed God would give them power to do his will.  After all, Paul testified in verse 5, “Our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.” The two reasons are closely related. We love because Jesus first loved us. As we expend ourselves for others, he fills us with his power and strength.

So be encouraged my brother, be encouraged my sister, though you have chosen a hard path as a bi-vocational church planter, God is with you; he will strengthen you. He delights to fill you with his power to extend love to people who do not know Christ. Will you call on him for a fresh filling with his Spirit today? 

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #Bivocational #Toil