A Week in the Life of a Pastor

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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00:00

Welcome back to Not Only Water.

00:02

My name is Keith Foskey and I am your host.

00:05

You probably noticed that a few things look a little bit different this week.

00:08

One, me.

00:10

I got a haircut and I trimmed my beard so I don't look as much like Spurgeon anymore.

00:16

But anyway, this is also not in my studio.

00:20

I'm actually outside.

00:22

I have had a super busy week this week and I wasn't able to get up to the studio to record this but I still wanted to record this week's podcast and I felt like this is a great week to talk about scheduling because sometimes our schedule does not go as planned and sometimes we end up having to do things a little bit differently than we might normally do it.

00:45

So that's what I thought I would talk about today.

00:48

So that's going to be the program on Not Only Water.

00:51

Practical Advice for New Pastors.

00:53

Stay tuned.

00:54

We're gonna go to it right now.

00:58

Welcome to Not Only Water.

01:00

This podcast is dedicated to providing practical advice for new pastors.

01:05

In 1st Timothy chapter 5 verse 23, Paul tells Timothy to drink not only water but to use a little wine for his stomach's sake.

01:12

This short piece of practical advice is the inspiration for this series.

01:16

Get ready to dive into today's topic.

01:19

Here's your host Keith Foskey.

01:23

So if you've been watching the program you know that I normally deal with how to prepare sermons and a lot of my previous episodes I've talked about sermon outlines, how to put meat on the bones, and how to find sermon illustrations and that really is a big part of what I wanted this show to be but that's not the only thing I wanted to talk about in this show.

01:43

Part of the other reason for this is I wanted to provide practical advice for the life of a pastor because our life is focused on preaching the word but certainly we do other things and so how do we manage our most important duty which is the preaching of the Word of God with all of the other things that we have to do and so I thought really the best way that I know how to do this would be to simply take you through what it looks like in a week in my life.

02:19

Now I want to say from the outset number one I am NOT an example in the sense of I'm not putting myself on a pedestal and saying everybody should do it like me.

02:30

However I have had a lot of trial and error over the years and I have come up with a system that works for me and that's all I'm showing you is I'm showing you one pastor's method for keeping up with our regular routine of preparing messages, preaching messages, doing the work of ministry, and shepherding the flock and doing those things that are important.

02:57

Now what I've done is I've actually outlined my week and I've put it on the screen.

03:03

I'm going to bring it up in just a moment and I'm going to walk you through what a normal week looks like and then I'm going to talk about how not every week is normal.

03:12

In fact, finding a normal week is almost impossible because there's really no such thing as a normal week in ministry.

03:20

There's always things that change.

03:22

There's always things that come up.

03:25

But these are the things that I try to keep on my weekly to-do list and I still, after all these years, I do keep a to-do list on my computer that I pull up every Monday morning.

03:36

Here's the things that I have to do every week and here's the thing about being a minister that you may not realize, well you probably do, but just in case you haven't realized yet, there's nobody that's going to make you get up in the morning and do the things that you need to do, but it's going to be very obvious if you're not doing the things that you are supposed to do.

03:58

So even though there's no one out there who's going to be calling you at 7 a.m.

04:03

every morning and saying it's time to get up, time to get to work, or whatever time you get up, it doesn't matter, but no one's going to be there to call you and ensure that you do that.

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You don't have a manager or a time clock that you have to punch.

04:18

You are responsible.

04:20

You are the one who has to keep up with your schedule.

04:22

You're the one who has to ensure that you are being faithful, especially if you are in vocational ministry, that you are being faithful to the people of God who are supporting you through their offerings to the church.

04:39

The money that's coming into the church, a good bit of that is going to support you and your family, and if you understand that that is going to mean that you have a responsibility to them and to God to ensure that you are not shirking your responsibilities, that's part of this, is being disciplined enough to ensure that you are keeping up with your own schedule.

05:07

Years ago, there was a man who told me he wanted to be in ministry, and so I had him speak to the elders of our church because he was asking for help, wanted to go to school and things, and so I said, well, come and talk to the elders of our church, and in the midst of that conversation, he was asked, what's the number one reason you want to be in ministry? And he said, well, I like the idea of setting my own schedule.

05:36

First of all, that's a terrible answer.

05:38

That's the worst answer anybody's ever given that I know of, but at the same time, everybody laughed because the thing was, even though a minister in one sense does have to coordinate his own schedule, often events set your schedule.

05:55

There are things that are going to happen that are going to force you to shift things around, and what you have to do as a minister, as a pastor, is you have to know what you have to do.

06:04

You have to know that there is a time crunch.

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Every week is final exam week.

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You've got a final exam coming on the Lord's Day, and every week, you're going to have to be prepared for that.

06:13

Whether there is three funerals that you have to do, which I've done in a week.

06:18

I've had to do three funerals in one week.

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Whether someone in your house is sick, whether you're sick, unless you're going to be taking a Sunday off because of that sickness, you're going to have to be ready for the Lord's Day.

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So you've got to consider the fact that all of this is going to work together.

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All this is going to work together to force you to have to discipline yourself and understand you have to coordinate what your schedule is going to be.

06:45

So I'm going to bring it up on the screen now and understand this is in no way attempting to be a model.

06:55

I'm simply saying this is what my to-do list looks like, and it looks a little different because I had to put it into the video program.

07:02

But take a look and you'll see what this looks like.

07:06

You'll notice I have here beginning on Monday morning.

07:10

Now I want to say from the outset, I know a lot of pastors who take Monday off.

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They take Monday as sort of as a Sabbath day so that they can rest because Sunday is a very very stressful day in preaching the word, especially if you preach in the morning and in the evening.

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You know you can wake up Monday morning feeling like your mind is jello and you just need Monday to be your day off.

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And let me just say you need a day off.

07:39

Make sure that you're scheduling yourself a day off, at least one a week, that you're not trying to work seven days a week.

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Now there are going to be days where you don't get the day off.

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There are going to be days where things happen.

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But in general, you should schedule yourself a day off.

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And a lot of pastors make Monday their day off.

07:57

I have never ever done that.

07:59

It's just not something that for me has been successful because Monday for me has always been get up and get ready day, get up and get going day.

08:12

Even if Sunday was busy, and it is for me, every Sunday is busy.

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Monday is get up and get going.

08:19

I just don't, I don't have the, and maybe it's because of all the years of going to school and all of the years of working, Monday was just work day.

08:30

And so maybe it's just sort of ingrained in my DNA.

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But I don't take Monday off like a lot of people do.

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And I'm not saying it's wrong, it's just not right for me.

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So Monday morning, I get up in the morning and that's when I begin to study for Sunday morning.

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So I've got seven days, well six days, and then it's Sunday again.

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So that that's the furthest out I have that I can begin to swim in the text that I'm going to be preaching on Sunday.

09:05

So that's what's in my mind.

09:07

I want to, I want to be thinking about Sunday.

09:09

I want to be in that text all week long.

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I do believe that there is something particularly sanctified about the worship service on the Lord's Day that Sunday morning when everybody comes together for that for that time of discipleship.

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And that's going to be my focus for the week.

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And everything else is secondary to that.

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So that's why I start with that.

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Sunday morning, I get up, that's what that's the focus.

09:34

I'm sorry, I said Sunday.

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Monday morning, I get up and that's the focus.

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Now I do have other things to do on Mondays.

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I teach karate on Monday evening, which is actually a good thing because, one, it's exercise for me.

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But that's that's not the only reason because if you if you study all day, you tend to be at your desk.

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And so getting up and moving around in the evening is a good thing.

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But it's also good because it gives me a time parameter so that I'm not going into the evening and into the night.

10:09

You know, if I begin studying in the morning, I have lunch.

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I usually study at home in the morning and then I have lunch with my family.

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So that's nice.

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And then in the afternoon, I continue my study and then I go to the church, which is where we have our karate program.

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So that's what a normal Monday looks like.

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It's just that's the focus.

10:31

That's it.

10:31

People know I really don't want to have long phone conversations on Monday.

10:35

I make people understand there's a reason why Monday is not a day that I do counseling.

10:40

Monday is not a day that I meet with people.

10:42

Monday is not a day because that's that's the day that I'm beginning to prepare for the next Lord's Day.

10:47

So Monday has always been sermon day.

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And in fact, that's funny, but that that is the way for years people even said that.

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Oh yeah, Monday's your sermon day.

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Yes.

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And it's not the only day, but that's the first day.

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It's the most important day because I study on Monday.

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Now Tuesday, you'll notice on the list, it says Tuesday study for Sunday.

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I'm not done on Monday.

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Monday is preparation day.

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Tuesday is usually my writing day.

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So Tuesday I spend time, usually in the morning, making sure that I have my outline put together.

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I'm beginning to look for application in the text.

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Where can I maybe find some illustrations? I'm beginning to put meat on the bones.

11:27

At that point, I should have a pretty decent understanding of the text and where it's going.

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And so I would, it is always my goal that by Tuesday night, and sometimes it's after my kids go to bed, because I do take the evening to be with my family.

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I'll go have dinner with my wife, you know, and then have the evening with the family.

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And then after the kids go to bed, 8 15, 8 30, my wife and I will sit up.

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I'll have my computer.

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She'll have, you know, her book or whatever, and I'm back to studying.

12:02

So that, in writing, I'm sorry, on Tuesday night, it's writing.

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So I'm, and sometimes, sometimes my Tuesday, not gonna lie, sometimes I write till 1 in the morning.

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Sometimes even later.

12:13

That's the, that again, is because I, you know, I take this, I take the preaching on Sunday morning very seriously.

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So I want to focus on making sure that I have it well written, exactly what I want to say.

12:27

Because throughout the week, I'm going to be adjusting it, making changes and little things.

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But by, by Wednesday morning, I want to have at least a workable manuscript.

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And as I said, I don't really use a manuscript, but an outlined writing.

12:42

Six to eight pages have been written on this particular subject, and I'm ready for Sunday.

12:48

If I had to preach it Wednesday, I could.

12:51

It wouldn't be as good as it's going to be on Sunday, because there's still going to be time of thinking through, editing, and all that.

12:56

But, but ultimately, by Wednesday, I've got my draft.

13:00

Now, what do I do on Wednesday? Oh, I also didn't mention this.

13:04

On Tuesday, I normally also record conversations with a Calvinist.

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That's my other podcast.

13:09

Now, the reason why I'm bringing that up is because that gives me a little afternoon break.

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So if I'm writing in the morning, and I have lunch, and then I take maybe an hour or two to do my conversations with a Calvinist, I record that.

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Usually it's an interview.

13:24

It's a conversation.

13:24

That's the podcast.

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The, the, the format, rather, is a conversation.

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So whether it's a Zoom call or something, I try to do that on Tuesday.

13:32

Sometimes that ends up being Tuesday night, just like it was this week.

13:36

But, you know, I also do conversations with Calvinists on Tuesday, and that breaks up where I'm not just writing all day long.

13:44

So just, just to throw that in there.

13:47

Okay, so come Wednesday morning, I am now studying for Wednesday, but not for that Wednesday.

13:53

I am always at least one week ahead on my Wednesday night preparation.

13:59

So this week on Wednesday, I'm studying for next week's Wednesday night message.

14:06

So this, usually I'm in some kind of a series anyway, so this is, what's good for me there, is it's telling me where I'm going next, and so when I preach that Wednesday night, I'm preaching what I wrote a week ago, but I also know where I'm going next week.

14:21

So it really, that helps keep me sharp, helps keep me focused, and the good part is because it's, like I said, it's always on, generally on the same subject, I'm able to review what I am preaching that night, because that leads me into the next week's lesson.

14:40

So Wednesday night, Wednesday day is Wednesday night, that's, that's the studying for that.

14:46

And then Thursday, oh by the way, and I also teach on Wednesday night, so study during the day, teach at night.

14:54

Wednesday night, even though I don't get to have, Wednesday evening, even though I don't get to have lunch with my family, or dinner with my family, I usually do try to have lunch with them.

15:02

I do a lot of studying at home, and that way I'm close by, so if I am going to be gone in the evenings, like on Monday I'm gone for karate, Wednesday I'm gone for church, I can have, at least have lunch with my family, and that's at least a time where we can have lunch together, and I'm usually home early enough, even when I'm away in the evenings, I'm usually home early enough to have family worship, and that's another thing I would encourage you, even if you're a busy person, make that time in the evenings for your family, at least two or three times a week, where you sit down, open the word, pray with them, have family worship.

15:33

Don't, don't neglect your family and family worship for what you do with the church.

15:39

Understand that you're a pastor in your home as well as in the church.

15:44

So Thursday comes, Thursday is much different, because Thursday is flip-flopped, I have to teach in the morning.

15:52

On Thursday morning I teach at a place called Set Free.

15:56

Now the great thing about what I teach at Set Free, is I always teach at Set Free on material that I have previously done at my own church, so I'm not having to add another study day for what I do at Set Free.

16:09

So I rotate through systematic theology, which I've taught at our church, or I rotate through a book that I've already taught at our church, and therefore I already have my notes, and so, and it's more of a Bible study, it's not so much like preaching, so it's, I don't have to bring in as much material, I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, so what I teach at Set Free is material that I'm already familiar with, and the, the, there's a rotation of men there, and so I can rotate through material, and it's a, it's often a new set of guys whose, new set of ears hearing it.

16:44

So Thursday afternoon though, I am now going to study for Sunday evening.

16:51

Now we don't have Sunday evening worship, we have Sovereign Grace Academy, which I'm actually wearing the Sovereign Grace Academy shirt tonight.

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Sovereign Grace Academy is Sunday evenings at our church, and even though the, the, the, it is a seminary level class, I don't have to spend as much time with it, because the Academy has been going on for a long time, so it is a rotating curriculum.

17:19

So what I'm doing typically on Thursday afternoon in my study, is I'm going back through the material that I'm going to teach that Sunday.

17:26

Do I need to update anything? Do I need to bring in any more handouts? Do I need to print handouts? All of that's part of what I'm doing on Thursday afternoon.

17:36

Also, and I didn't mention this, currently we don't have a secretary at the church, so Thursday afternoons usually I'm also doing the bulletin for the church, and, and getting that ready for the printing, so it can be printed for Sunday morning.

17:49

Friday comes, and on Friday I try to catch up on anything that I've missed, especially if in the midst of anything going on, I have needed to make a phone call, needed to make a home visit, needed to touch base with someone, maybe, and by the way, if there was ever a home visit or hospital visit needed in the midst of any of those other things, that's what I'm saying, you never know, and certainly I would have done that whatever day it was, but Friday is phone call day, checking on people day, making sure, you know, I touch base with the elders, we talk about who's going to be leading what portion of the service, because we rotate through that, and Brother Andy sends me a text, and he tells us what we're doing in the week, and he either gives me that Friday or Saturday, so Friday is sort of wrapping everything up, making sure everything's ready for the Lord's Day.

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Also, we have a homeschool group.

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This doesn't happen all the time, but during the school year, in eight week sessions, we have a homeschool group, and I lead a teenage Bible study in that homeschool group, so there's some things going on Friday morning as well.

18:55

Now, you'll notice on here, I put Saturday is family day, and basically what that means for me is that Saturday is my day off, and sometimes there's church events on Saturday, but if there is a church event on a Saturday, I just look at that as, hey, my family gets to go to church on Saturday and do something with the body.

19:17

It's not work in that regard, unless it's a church workday, but hey, everybody's, you know, everybody does that.

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We only do those a few times a year anyway, but the point of the matter is, Saturday is really for my family.

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Now, that doesn't mean we won't have a family from the church over Saturday evening.

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We're going to be having them.

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We're having a family over this week on a Saturday evening, but again, that's not work.

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That's for us.

19:39

That's fellowship.

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That's what we live for.

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We want to be with these people, and so that's a blessing.

19:45

However, just keep in mind that you need to have time for you and for your family at least once a week, and whatever day it is, doesn't matter what the day is, just I would caution you from doing like split days, like split shift, like, well, I'm going to give half this day to my family and half this.

20:02

Your family should get a portion of you every day, and your family should get at least one day that is with you.

20:10

Now, a few years ago, and I don't remember if it was Steve Lawson or if it was another pastor, maybe Steve Lawson was quoting another pastor, but I remember him saying this as far as scheduling.

20:24

He said, I give my mornings to God.

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I give my afternoons to men.

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I give my evenings to my family.

20:29

I have always respected that.

20:31

I think that's a wonderful thought, and if that's the way you do it, that's great, and I think that there's some of that that comes out in what I do because I do spend a lot of my mornings studying, but I also do some studying in the afternoon, and when he says gives his afternoons to men, what he means is coordinating meetings and things like that.

20:50

He never does that in the morning.

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He gives that time to God because the morning hours are often where we're most sharp, and we've just come out of our rest, and so, you know, they say an hour in the morning is worth two in the afternoon, so if you can focus on God in the morning, focus on the ministry aspect, administration in the afternoon, and then family in the evening, that's a fairly good way to live because then you're balanced, and the whole idea is being balanced and not shirking your responsibilities.

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You have responsibilities to God.

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You have responsibilities to the church.

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You have responsibilities to your family.

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You have responsibilities to your wife, and this is a responsible position.

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People are looking to you to lead, and you should lead well, and so keep that in mind, and again, I don't know if I mentioned it, Sunday, that's the Lord's Day.

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That's the day that is going to be focused 100% on what we're doing in worship in the morning.

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Get there early.

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Be the first person there, and you don't have to be the last person to leave, but I often am one of the last people to walk out the door because I want to be with people.

21:56

I want to fellowship in the morning.

21:57

I want to fellowship in the evening or after church, and again, that's just, I think that's important.

22:04

I think, you know, not running in, you know, right before service starts and running out right before service, right after service ends, but being there with the people, loving the people, you know, as a pastor, that's part of what you should be doing.

22:18

All right, so all of this is, again, just my way.

22:23

I'm not saying that it's the perfect way, and I'm not saying this is what every week looks like for me.

22:28

This is a week in the life of a pastor, and some people might say, well, there's so much missing.

22:34

I don't see counseling on there.

22:35

I don't see home visits on there.

22:37

I don't see this.

22:38

I don't schedule those things as, well, I do, but they're not on this list.

22:43

I was limited in what I could put here.

22:45

Like, for instance, we have a monthly elders meeting.

22:48

We have a monthly deacons meeting.

22:51

I didn't put that on here.

22:52

We also have regular elder conversations that happen on the phone, sometimes an hour to shot, and I didn't put those on here either because those aren't a weekly event.

23:05

Those are a monthly event, and again, all that's going to change, and I said this week is different.

23:10

I'm outside.

23:11

I'm on my patio doing this because this week changed for me.

23:15

I had a big deal happen in my home where I had to do some work on Monday here at my house, and because Monday, as you can see, is Sermon Day, it threw off my whole week.

23:26

I had a big job to do here on Monday at my house.

23:29

I had some workers coming on Tuesday, so I had to get everything prepared for the workers on Tuesday, and it threw off my week.

23:36

Now, I'm not saying that in a bad way.

23:38

I'm just saying it has changed what I've had to do this week, and I actually didn't finish writing my sermon until today.

23:46

It's right now.

23:46

It is Thursday evening, and I finished writing my sermon today late in the afternoon because I was so far behind, and when I say my sermon, I mean my Sunday morning sermon, so you'll you never know what a week will bring.

24:01

There have been weeks where I've spent the whole week in the hospital because we've had someone who was in the hospital, and the family needed me, and so if that happens, you've got to be able to do that, so keep in mind your week's not going to always look the same, but you know what you have to do.

24:18

You have responsibilities.

24:20

Keep up with those responsibilities.

24:22

Make yourself a list.

24:23

Check through that list.

24:24

Make sure that you're keeping up with what you have been called to do, and be diligent to do what is expected of a pastor.

24:33

I hope today has been helpful for you.

24:35

I hope that this was an encouragement getting to see a little bit of how I do it, and hopefully this might give you some ideas to to add to your own way of doing things.

24:45

Thank you for listening to Not Only Water.

24:47

If you like the podcast, please share it with other pastors.

24:50

I'm hoping that this will be an encouragement to them.

24:52

Please also subscribe to the channel, and leave a comment, and if you have a question or a subject that you would like me to address on a future episode, please leave that as well.

25:02

Thank you again for listening.

25:03

My name is Keith Foskey, and I've been your host.

25:06

May God bless you.