My Experience with the HBA Pastoral Ministry Cohort - Testimony from Joshua Lunsford
Below is a testimony from Joshua Lunsford about his experience participating in the HBA Pastoral Ministry Cohort over the last year.
Some questions don’t have a simple answer. Over the past decade, I’ve been wrestling with one of the most complicated questions one could ask. “Lord, are you calling me into the ministry?” While we are all called to the ministry of the gospel, some are called to a deeper role in serving the Lord through vocational ministry. I know God has gifted me to teach and a few times over the years, I’ve even felt gifted to preach when I was blessed with the opportunity. But, has God really gifted me for pastoral ministry or am I just a passionate teacher and preacher?
While discussing this question with my Pastor, I found that I’m not alone in wrestling with this very important question. There are many other young men just like me who wonder if God is calling them to ministry or if they are simply blessed with the gift of teaching. Enter the HBA pipeline. Led by Pastor Troy and with the help of several other local pastors, we spent the past 12 months really digging into that question. We read several books that helped answer many questions I had involving my potential calling to ministry. What is the biblical role of a pastor? How should a pastor form his sermons? What are some of the difficulties a pastor might face during his ministry? What does a healthy church look like? We answered all these questions and more.
My biggest takeaway from this pipeline was something you might not expect. Some lessons in life are caught, not taught. Something I caught throughout my time in the pipeline was Pastor Troy serving us food at every meeting. It reminded me that ministry is all about serving. Whether we serve by preparing sermons on Sunday morning, studying for a Wednesday night Bible study, getting our hands dirty by mowing an elderly neighbor's lawn, or simply serving food to a bunch of hungry preachers, our job is to serve.
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” - Galatians 5:13
Thank you, Pastor Troy and the HBA, for spending the time and resources to help a few young preachers wrestle with their call to preach and equip us for the work that God has called us to do.
Comments