"Doing It With All Your Might"

Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might..."

    The Lord as awakened me out of my sleep early this morning (3:00 a.m.) to write on this theme of being a faithful shepherd. Yesterday morning as I stood before the people I was confronted with the reality God is sending more people here to PHBC! You would think, well that is a good thing. Yes and No! Keep reading. I was reminded as I stood behind the sacred desk to break "the bread of life", that I am accountable for these peoples souls (Heb.13:17), at least those who has committed to the body of Christ at PHBC. This verse of Hebrews 13:17, "...for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will give an account" has caused me to reevaluate my ministry as a pastor (shepherd).
     I have asked myself, how am I doing in the shepherding business? Do I know my people as I should? What does it mean to truly shepherd God's people? These questions have been weighing heavy upon my heart for the last few weeks. Can I honestly say, before the God of the Bible who sent His Son to die as a ransom for His people, that I faithfully shepherded your peoples souls? Was I involved (personally) in their spiritual growth and discipleship? Was I truly concerned for their souls as their spiritual leader?
    As most pastors, it concerns me when I see some church members only one time a week. They come in for there dose of religion for the week not to be seen again until next week. But, I wonder how are they doing throughout the week? How are they doing spiritually? Are they worshiping the Lord in His Word? Are they spending time with the Lord in prayer? Are the husbands of the church loving their wives as Christ loved the church? Are wives submitting to their husbands? Are children obeying the parents in the Lord? As the pastor of the Lord's church, I want to do what God has called me to do...."with all my might."
     I teach my three boys, that whatever we do, we do it unto the glory of God (1 Cor.10:31) and we do it with all our might! Whether it is their school work, whether it is playing sports, or whether it is tying up the garbage bag and taking out the trash. I so desire for my children to honor the Lord in all that they do, how much more should their father be as a picture and example of those words when it comes to the work the Lord has given me. I want to be the best shepherd I can be to the glory of Christ!
    
With that said, I will share a couple of things I am trying to do by God's grace to better shepherd our people here at PHBC:

1. Expositional Preaching...I try to be faithful in teaching and preaching God's Word week in and week out. Verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book!

2. Pray for our people daily through out the week. I have members list and I try to go through it weekly and pray for each individual. I also pray for the large number of our visitors who have been coming on a regular basis. I often will send them an e-mail or text to encourage them that day and let them know I prayed for them.

3. Men's Bible Study. We have our weekly men's Bible study on Saturday at 7:30, where men are encouraged to come together and study God's Word. During this time we share our prayer concerns with one another. This also gives me the opprotunity to speak with some of our men one on one and ask some questions pertaining to their spiritual health.

 4. Open our home or go to lunch. Periodically we will invite members to our home to visit and share a meal together. I often get the opportunity to go to lunch with individuals and I am able to shepherd them this way.

5. Calendar for monthly visits to their homes. This one is in the making still. This would allow our members to sign up each month for a visit from their pastor. I think this is a neat way to be able to visit with your people (outside them being sick or some tragedy) and also it allows them to open their homes up, which causes them to open their hearts up to you as their pastor.
 
     I guess the reason why I write this is because it seems as though the Lord is sending new people every week to our fellowship. We have people who have inquired about membership and I want to be able to shepherd their souls with eternity in mind. I am not concerned about getting more members as I am about taking care of the ones I already have. Which reminds me of a quote I heard from C.H. Spuregon from one of his students.
The student told Spuregon, "One day I would like to have a large congregation like yourself (which was up to 8-10,000 members)." The student said, "I only have 30 members in my country church." To which Spurgeon replied, "on the day of judgement, believe me you will think you have had enough!"
  
So, with all that said, I am asking for some input from you other pastors and church members alike. What are some suggestions you would make to a pastor being more faithful in shpeherding his flock?

Pastors, if you are not shepherding your people I encourage you to get with your sheep and get to know them. And, "do it with all your might!"

What do you think? Agree or disagree?