Pastoral Role

Paul Baloche, in his YouTube series, “Leading Worship”, emphasizes the need to have a heart of love toward his congregation as he leads them in worshipping. He describes how he tries to meet each of those in the pews where they’re at for the purposing of bringing the Church of God together. It’s an act of service and thus an act of worship. He also mentions how he challenges his congregation through Scripture. In Baloche’s case, he pointed out the passage in Psalm 95 where it says to “Shout to the Lord”. Though that’s something that most don’t do, Baloche stresses how he uses that Scripture to challenge himself and his congregation to express themselves to the Lord.

I’m intrigued by the extent to which Baloche seeks to express himself in his acts of worship to the Lord. It doesn’t matter the awkwardness or unfamiliarity. Baloche takes Scripture at its Word and puts it into practice. That is part of our surrendering ourselves as “living sacrifices” to the Lord: putting God’s Word into practice. If necessary, this may take some disciplining, but if we are truly to submit all of ourselves to the Lord, it’s necessary to have the faith to take what’s said in Scripture and put it into practice with a heart of genuine love.

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