Pastor encourages congregation to always put Jesus first

Published 8:34 am Friday, April 3, 2020

BY GREG MILLER

Pastor Ronnie’s mission in life was to lead his congregation in the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Everything he did in his pastoral role was meant to encourage his parishioners to praise God. Prior to the morning worship services, Pastor Ronnie led the leaders of the church’s educational program in prayer. Several times each week, the pastor met with the church’s other staff members to encourage them in their roles as representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. Before every worship service, he called all the youngsters to the front of the church to pray for them before sending them to the educational building for their own worship experience.

Pastor Ronnie not only preached at all the church’s worship services, he was also the face of the congregation’s public ministry. He hosted a radio broadcast three times a week and a weekly television broadcast. He also led the prayer at the municipality’s bi-monthly city council meetings.

Pastor Ronnie’s wife, Ruthie, was also a high-profile part of the church’s outreach. Like her husband, she was involved in several ministries. She was the leader of the church’s business owners group, and she also served on the city’s school board.

Pastor Ronnie and Ruthie were determined to serve God with their whole hearts. Their motto was the Scripture, Colossians 3:23, “and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

A huge part of Pastor Ronnie’s emphasis was on Scripture memorization. Each week, he emphasized the importance of regularly memorizing a portion of God’s Word.

At the conclusion of each of these sessions, Pastor Ronnie recited a few Scriptures that were among his personal favorites, including an Old Testament passage, Micah 6:8, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

 A favorite New Testament Scripture was Revelation 22:17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Pastor Ronnie encouraged members of the congregation to always put Jesus first in their lives. “Jesus put us first when He was on Calvary’s cross,” he reminded them, “so we need to continually put Him first today.”

Pastor Ronnie concluded, “If we put Jesus first, others second and ourselves last, we will truly be the joyous people God has called us to be!”

(To contact the writer of this column about speaking engagements, including Christian Comedy Fundraising Outreaches, Christian Creativity Seminars and/or puppet ministry, please email raysofson@gmail.com or ministry4jesus@yahoo.com.)