So, it’s a new year. Do you have any resolutions? Are you going to exercise more? Eat more healthily? Read that pile of books that’s been gathering dust? How about resolving to encourage your pastor in the year ahead? But how? I have a couple of easy, simple, and effective suggestions.
Here’s the first one. When your pastor is preaching, try to be a Barnabas in the pew – a son (or daughter) of encouragement – and show him how engaged you are in his message. It would astonish you just how much a preacher is able to notice from the pulpit. Even when he’s in the full throes of his sermon, another part of his brain is aware of how many of the congregation are staring out the window or glancing at the clock or fidgeting with their fingernails.
