Elements of a Successful Church

A Biblical Pastor 1st Thessalonians 2:1-8

Paul was bringing the same message that he began with in Acts 9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

The message Paul preached never changed

Paul preached the Gospel boldly (v.2)

Paul had been treated shamefully and imprisoned by certain people in Philippi and forced to leave by city officials

Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit had cast the spirit of divination out of a woman who was taunting Paul causing financial loss to master (Acts 16:18-19)She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities,

In all of this, Paul was bold to preach Christ in Philippi, and in the aftermath of those consequences, he did not loose his zeal to continue to do so where ever he went

this set an example of how a Biblical Pastor should not back down from presenting the truth of the Gospel regardless of the location or the circumstances

Paul Preached a pure Gospel (v.3)

Paul's Gospel message was Christ centered and in no way was self-serving (1st Cor. 2:1-2)And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

Paul was not interested in flattering anyone but in preaching Christ crucified ONLY.

A Biblical Pastor will not

tip-toe or bypass controversial subjects because of opposition

attempt to tickle ears by preaching only subjects people liked

he did not focus on winning the approval of people

was not worried with trying to gain popularity or his own personal following

He did not preach his own ideas nor those of others. he did not follow the theological fashions of the time

anything that was preached by Paul was not a creation of his own but that of God exclusively

Paul understood that he had nothing to do with the writing of the gospel and therefore had no authority to alter the Gospel.

Paul did not preach a deceptive message

He was not out to secure a comfortable living by telling people what they wanted to hear

Paul was not deceptive in the life he lived

He did not preach one thing and do another

From the day he answered God’s calling on his life, he lived as what he preached

Paul preached to please God not men (v.4)

Most people do not want to hear about

sin and judgment

The dependency upon Christ for salvation

Wrath and hell

In v. 4 Paul says he is only interested in pleasing God because

God is the one who trusted Paul with the Gospel

God is the one who owns the Gospel

God is the one who called Paul to present the Gospel

in short, God had called Paul to preach the Gospel, not men

God alone would judge him and try hie heart. God is who he would give an account to

Men could only persecute his for a short time

Paul did not preach out of greed or flattery (v.5)

(1st Timothy 6:6-10) But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Paul did not preach in a method as to flatter people for personal gain or to show partiality

He was not worried in the least what others thought of him

Paul did not preach for glory or position (v.6)

Paul did not seek glory, prestige or honor.

He sought to minimize himself that Christ would be maximized

Paul was a servant of the Lord who understood humility in Christ (Phil 2:3-5) Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,