Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church
With the bustling duties of constant ministerial work, I must frequently remind and reorient my focus time and time again on the essential priorities of God’s calling upon my life as an undershepherd of Christ’s church. So then, as a pastor of a local church, I’m committed to the following resolutions as a minister of the gospel.
1. RESOLVED: to prioritize personal holiness. A priority that I am committed to is the self-discipline for personal godliness. My joy and steadfast satisfaction comes from focusing on Christ and on the pursuit of His pleasure. Pleasing Him and my personal holiness must be the constant priority in my life. I must master the Word of God and know the God of the Word intimately. I must walk in the truth, not stray into error and glory in my Redeemer. By God’s grace, I’m resolved, that I will prioritize my own personal holiness.
2. RESOLVED: to feed God's flock through the regular preaching of the Word. God’s sheep must be fed God’s truth from the Scriptures. My duty as a shepherd is to feed the flock, to tend the lambs, to minister God’s Word to them through the teaching and preaching of His Word. If all else is neglected, I cannot ignore the regular study of the Word and the heralding of His saving and sanctifying Truth. Resolved: I will preach the Word of God.
3. RESOLVED: to intercede for God's people in fervent, believing prayer. A great blessing of pastoral ministry is praying for the flock of God that He has graciously called me to serve. I must persist in praying for their spiritual welfare, their daily growth, their protection from the Devil, and for their evangelistic pursuits. Perhaps nothing is as difficult as joyful, specific, constant intercession. But I’m resolved to pray for the flock of God.
4. RESOLVED: to develop, to the best of my ability, godly, male leadership. Godly leaders reproduce themselves and strive to the utmost to disciple and raise up godly, male, qualified, servant leaders. As I grow in grace, I want to develop and invest in other men in the church. Resolved, I’m committed to praying for, investing in, serving with, and rejoicing in leadership development. May God appoint many servant leaders!
5. RESOLVED: to go after and pursue the lost in fervent calls to repentance & faith. To be a fool for Christ’s sake is the highest privilege in the universe. The Word of the Cross is foolishness to the perishing, but it’s God’s power for salvation. To go after the lost, to pursue them, to summon them to repentance and faith, and to proclaim the unspeakable glories of Christ, the unsurpassed offer of this gospel, and the unrivaled mercy available to sinners through the propitiatory work of Christ is a happy and holy duty and blessing of pastoral ministry. Resolved, to be a gospel-preaching minister and a evangelistically minded preacher to equip believers and evangelize the lost.
6. RESOLVED: to model a godly home life & a Christ-exalting marriage. Living in a world drowning in confusion and rebellion, God has given such clarity in His Word for a happy, holy, and Christ-exalting marriage. I must prioritize my marriage above all else as my primary ministry. My pastoring of my wife (and of my family) is my first and foremost duty as it is this which qualifies me to serve as an overseer in the local church. So I’m resolved, by God’s sufficient and empowering grace, to nurture and cherish my wife, to wash her in the Word, to pray with and for her, and to serve her, and to prepare her for glory by striving to love her as Christ has loved and given Himself for her.
May God, by His sufficient and incessant grace, enable and equip me with everything needed to walk in His ways and to pursue Him diligently for the glory of His name, for the welfare of His flock that He’s called me to shepherd, and for the joy of my soul.