The Apostle Paul was called by the Lord to preach the gospel and minister to churches. His life was never the same after the Lord saved him on a road heading to Damascus (Acts 9). There were many situations Paul faced in his ministry that could lead to discouragement. There is one event in particular that happened in the life of the church of Thessalonica after Paul had departed from there about nine months to a year ago. Understanding the historical details of Paul's ministry and this situation, in particular, will help us realize that there is a way to respond to the situations we as pastors face in pastoral ministry so that we do not become discouraged. I encourage you to watch this second of a five-part series on overcoming discouragement from a detailed understanding of 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 as I explain and discuss Paul's first truth as listed in the outline below.

Paul provides a list of four ways he consistently responded when situations or fears would tempt him to become discouraged in his ministry for the Lord. We will be looking at each one of these in detail in this pastoral seminar. Paul always reminded himself of the following truths:

Truth #1: See the Overall Plan of God for your Life - Confidence in Him (vv. 2-3)
Truth #2: Realize the Overall Desire of God for your Life - Fear of Him (vv. 4-6)
Truth #3: Fulfill the Overall Purpose of God for your Life - Humility before Him (vv. 7-8)
Truth #4: Commit to the Overall Goal of God for your Life - Proclamation of Him (vv. 9-12)

Click the link to access and read the New Living Translation for free. You will only need to find the biblical book and chapter: https://www.sermoncentral.com/bible/new-living-translation-nlt/

I have included a document for this session that allows you the opportunity to reflect and apply what you have learned from the video session. Once the screen opens to view the pdf document, you will need to download it to your device so that you can answer the questions provided in the text boxes provided on the document. Here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14dwdfLndQGQTKdWTzpJaUkb69jJTshMB/view?usp=share_link

Session #1 of this Pastoral Seminar series: https://youtu.be/wyaavGCEH1w
Session #2 of this Pastoral Seminar series: https://youtu.be/lmoGLDANlYc
Session #3 of this Pastoral Seminar series: https://youtu.be/8QKSCa1JSsY
Session #4 of this Pastoral Seminar series: https://youtu.be/Dl1fzrBmQnk

If you are interested in learning more about how this ministry of Communicating God's Word can help you in your ministry, please send an email to greenewv@outlook.com or connect with me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wvgreene

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