DALLAS (BP) — “Worth Following” was the theme around which pastors gathered June 8 for the opening session of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Pastors’ Conference in Dallas.

Convening at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Pastors’ Conference attendees heard the first two expositions in a two-day series of sermons through the book of 2 Timothy. Caleb Turner and John Mark Harrison described why God’s plan for pastors’ lives is worth following.

Caleb Turner

The magnitude of a pastor’s ministry depends on God, not the number of people to whom he preaches, the size of his church buildings or any other worldly factor, said Turner, pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas.

Ministry “is not always dependent upon the depth of one’s theological vocabulary nor the distance by which we can reach people via our social media,” he said. “No, the magnitude of one’s ministry is quite simply about location. Plainly put, we have more power when we are in closer proximity to the Provider.”

Preaching from 2 Timothy 1:1-7, Turner noted various sources of power in Christian ministry. First, pastors must recognize the grace of their calling. Like Paul was an apostle by God’s will, preachers are in their positions by God’s will — a gracious reality that should help sustain them through trials.

“Can you thank Him when it’s tough?” Turner asked. “Can you serve Him while you’re suffering? When we recognize the undeserved call, we should have attitudes of gratitude.”

Power in ministry also comes when pastors remember why they committed themselves to the Lord, he said. “I am committed because He has been committed to me. If God can save me, He can save anybody.”

Finally, pastors must mature in their calling and resist fear. Citing the 2 Timothy 1:7, Turner said that when the “trifecta” of power, love and self-control “works together alongside the will of God, nothing is impossible with you.”

John Mark Harrison

Pastors must be filled with gospel courage, said Harrison, pastor of First Baptist Church Concord in Knoxville, Tenn.

“Can it be the reason why so many of us are not filled with gospel courage is because we are trying to fill ourselves with courage instead of allowing Christ to fill us with His courage?” Harrison asked, preaching from 2 Timothy 1:8-14.

Possessing gospel courage requires clinging to a gospel hope, he said. Harrison’s own suffering in ministry has included the death of a child, yet the hope of the gospel continues to make him call the pastorate “the greatest privilege of my life.”

Courage also comes when pastors rest in their gospel calls, he said. While all Christians are called to minister, Scripture teaches that some believers receive a special call to vocational ministry. As Paul drew confidence from his call to be an apostle, Harrison said, pastors should draw confidence from their calls to ministry.

“Steward what’s been given in your context, in your time,” he said. “Do it in a way that glorifies God in your community. This is what courageous leadership looks like.”

Another way to build courage is amplifying a gospel witness by delivering it with faith and love, Harrison said. “The gospel is not just the content of our witness. It’s the fuel for our witness.”

Harrison closed by asking pastors desiring courage to stand. Then he prayed for them.

EDITOR’S NOTE — David Roach is a writer in Mobile, Ala.