vocation
BECOME A MINISTER? A MINISTRY, A PROFESSION, A CHOICE OF LIFE, A VOCATION...
"In every epoch of the history of the world, God has chosen for himself, at the right time, servants to whom he has declared: "You are my witnesses". Every generation has seen consecrated persons receive light from on high and communicate to their contemporaries the message from heaven. Enoch, Noah, Moses, Daniel, the patriarchs and the prophets were all ministers of divine justice. They were not infallible, but weak and prone to error; yet the Lord accepted the gift that they had given of themselves by placing themselves at His service. ...] It is up to them to make the sweet atmosphere of Christ's love reign in the Church. ...] They are but instruments in the hands of God and their whole work is the work of his power. ... They will do the works of Jesus, if they look to him as he looked to his Father, and if they stand firm on him, they will also shine with all his brightness" (Ellen White, The Evangelistic Ministry, p. 12).
Asking questions about vocation and the possibility of becoming a pastor often means asking what God's will is. Without focusing exclusively on the possibility of becoming a pastor, this article written by Gabriel Monet, "Discerning God's Will" may provide food for thought.
TESTIMONIES
ELISE
"To be a pastor is to be, to the best of our ability, where we are needed, even in the most unexpected ways. It is believing that if God has called us for this particular vocation, it is because we can do good to those who are alone. Because we can teach and speak of his love to those who doubt it. For me, being a pastor also means being true with my faults and cracks, but by witnessing that the Lord helps me to repair them little by little, each day a little more.
It is not always easy to respond to God when we feel that He is calling us to the pastorate. It is not the most highly regarded profession in our society, nor is it the one that pays the best. It is a great number of hours of service and sometimes inextricable situations that make us suffer. But all this is nothing compared to the privilege of serving God, of seeing the fruits of his love in the lives of the people around us."
Read Elise's full testimony
THIERRY
"To be a pastor today is to be there for those who need a little help to move forward with God. It's being there for a mother who has trouble with her children... It's being there for this couple who have forgotten that they really love each other. Being a pastor also means managing conflicts between adults so that they learn to listen to each other and to listen to the suffering they have generated in each other. It is to remember that the essential thing is to love. To love beyond the church manual, to love like Jesus. It's putting the human first...
Being a pastor is a beautiful job. Five weeks paid leave per year, a small salary and significant benefits. Church members you sometimes want to run away from, committees where you go around in circles from time to time, but a God who bursts out laughing with you when you talk to Him about it. A God who never lets problems fall on you fully. Yes, it is a beautiful job, when you see the joy on the face of the one you plunge into the waters of the river or the baptistery. It is beautiful when you see that couple say "yes I do" and that you meet a few years later with a little one in your arms and always with the same fervour to love each other. It's beautiful when that husband or wife or son or daughter says thank you for being there and also for being involved in this painful ordeal that is the end of life."
Read Thierry's entire testimony
ERIC
"I'm a pastor and happy to be one. I try to live the ministry with simplicity but also with a lot of rigor for myself, always making sure to offer a quality service.
This job seems to me to be really out of the ordinary because it covers such a wide range of possibilities for action with those around us. So I understand this work as a mission of accompaniment of one another; either in an already mature experience of faith and then it is a question for me of forming, teaching and assuming an edifying leadership for the ecclesial community; or in a journey of discovery of the God of the Bible through the study of the Scriptures, leading if necessary to a baptismal commitment. ...] The management of human relationships in communities is another important challenge because they are often a source of tension and sometimes conflict, which must be defused with tact and gentleness, as Christ could do.
Finally and in spite of everything, I can say that this profession is fully fulfilling for me, never routine and often rewarding. I therefore encourage all those who have this conviction of the Lord's call to dare to take the step of pastoral formation. This first step can be the most difficult because one must clearly "let go" in order to move forward in an adventure that is worth living. Thus guided, trained and equipped by the one who has called you, you will then be ready to live a ministry useful to the Church and ultimately to society as a whole. "
Read Eric's full testimony
ROMINA
One day I said to myself, "I would love to have an in-depth course on the Bible and serve God full time! ». That first thought, that little spark, marked the beginning of a desire that only grew until it became a conviction! Easy decision? No, far from it. ...] Many people discouraged me, but I took the step of faith and left to study at Collonges. At first it wasn't easy, it had its ups and downs, but everything was very constructive for me!
Today I live my ministry with joy. It is a beautiful and very rewarding job. It is the joy of sharing and service! When I preach, when I give Bible studies or during visits, I share my faith; I share with others what God has put in my heart. As the Bible says, "There is more happiness in giving than in receiving" (Acts 20:35).
I encourage those, young and old, who have had a spark of thought that makes them become
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