Modeling Our Motto
By Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Preach the Good News
“‘Do the work of an evangelist.’ Keep on giving out the Good News. Nothing more exciting than people getting saved. Oh man, don’t lose that zeal. Don’t let anything at this school take away one ounce of your zeal for the lost. Don’t ever forget what it was like without Christ. Don’t ever fail to give the good news of the Savior who died and paid the complete penalty for their sins and rose bodily and miraculously from the dead and is alive for them to give them life and grace and forgiveness and hope. Give them the gospel. Fulfill your ministry.”
Be Faithful in Little
“The winds will blow against you and away from truth. You set your sails and rudder toward truth, and you spend your life delivering it. And don’t expect vast crowds, okay? Give up numbers. In the best part of my time in New England, we had seven people in the church. Three of them were Swindolls. That’s enough to demoralize you. But the guy that’s faithful in the little things will not be impressed when he’s ministering to thousands.”
Teach the Truth
You won’t be ministering in a culture that desires the Word. They’re starving, but they don’t realize that the starvation is a starvation for truth. It’s a postmodern era, and very few can even define truth. So it’s your job to do that. This book is truth, and when you teach it, you teach truth.”
Exhort with Patience
“And then we are to exhort. This provides a nice balance to the other four. All rebuke and reproof, day after day, week after week, will demoralize a congregation and lead people to despair. There must also be encouragement and comfort. And that’s conveyed in the meaning of this word translated here, ‘exhort.’ Notice how we exhort. We do it with great patience and instruction.”
Be Ready
“In season, out of season, press it home on all occasions. May I go further? When it’s convenient, when it’s inconvenient, when they like you, when they don’t like you, when the crowds are large or when the crowds are diminishing, when you’re loved or when you feel unloved, when you’re sick or when you’re well, when it’s hot or when it’s cold, when you feel like it or you don’t feel like it. You stand by. Your job is to deliver the goods. You be ready.”
Additional Resources
First, sign up for our Chuck’s Insights on Ministry email where we bring you his best thoughts on preaching, leadership, and ministry each week. By signing up, you’ll instantly receive a one-page checklist with 20 preaching insights from Chuck. See this page’s sidebar.
Second, check out our new Preach The Word articles and video series on YouTube where we’re teaching Chuck’s best insights on this important calling.
Third, listen to Chuck’s messages to those in ministry through our Seminary Chapels page. For decades, he offered students at Dallas Theological Seminary his best thoughts on church leadership and ministry. Now, we have put them at your fingertips. Also, you can find them through this YouTube playlist we created for you.
Fourth, if you don’t own a copy of Chuck’s book on preaching, Saying It Well, we highly recommend you add it to your library. It’s his preaching memoir that is also like a practical preaching manual. You won’t be able to put it down.
About the author
Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading program in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry.
