so the portrait of a pastor what does a pastor look like one again has genuine concern for others you know I remember when I was leading a group and someone in our group she cut her finger you know she came to me and she said I got a paper cut and I you know my response was hey just go wash it off and just go back you know go join your group and from that place there's someone from the community within the uh the group she saw what happened and so she walked over to this young lady and she said hey you know what are you okay what happened and so she showed her a cut and all of a sudden this lady she said you know what is it okay if I pray for you and she sort of prayed for her just walked into the bathroom helped her wash up and walked her back and she just said you know what and I I witnessed this which was such an amazing thing she said here's my number if you need anything if you need if if you're in pain tonight just call me and I'll pray for you see this is a genuine concern for others this is the heartbeat of a shepherd you know where I was you know I was just so focused and maybe I should have probably been more attentive but a paper cut it stings it hurts but yeah okay wash it off and just go back join your group but the shepherd stepped in and made the person feel secure cared for nurtured and not only did the person give them directions but the person walked them through that Pastor walked them through the whole process and journey and that's what pastors do they have a genuine concern for others where they don't just think about it they fully engage you know it's not it's it's fully active in that place and see in second as that person had genuine concern for others the desire is to listen and discern real needs and so as as this person was listening to her you know I'm in pain this hurts you know she was asking you know she was really asking the Holy Spirit how can I help this person what are the real needs they have here what you know and so she discerned that she felt a little neglected by me and you know and rightly so because I was so focused and so she started blessing her and just started started saying how valuable she is to the Lord and to us and and that's really built her up in that way you know and so there's that desire not to only meet felt needs but real needs and so they have this ability to really come into a place of seeing the felt need that they have but then the real needs and how do you discern the difference you know and pastors have this ability to discern felt in real needs felt needs are what the person feels like they need real needs can only come by holy spirit because holy spirit is a spirit of Truth and it's a spirit of God that could only tell us things that we don't know that that or even the person they may feel like they need something but perhaps Holy Spirit knows even deeper than we do in terms of what we need and so this is what the pastor desires and really goes after is hearing what the person needs from God as they meet their felt needs third they follow up by asking questions at a later time and so this person who you know who helped that person uh that evening the next day called them how do I know that because this person received the call she called me she told me she said so and so her name's Nancy she said Nancy called me to see how I was doing she said she's the sweetest person she's ever met you know they they follow up by asking questions at a later time you know not just on the you know bypass of hey how you doing and walk away but pastors when they say how are you they genuinely mean it they stop they want to listen they want heart-to-heart connections you know and so they start asking questions on how are you how can we pray for you you know is there anything we can do to love you how can we love you and so all these questions come because they they have a heart to care you know and so one they have a genuine concern for others too they desire to listen and just discern real needs three they follow up by asking questions at a later time and see that's why within the church context Ecclesia context we need pastors we need pastors to do follow-up we need pastors to let people know that their value that they're part of the family they're part of the church family and that you know what they have something to contribute that we need you and you need us and we're a family and this is part of the beautiful function of the pastor and four they notice when others are missing from groups and they contact them and I said this earlier but you know when they when we're all gathered together their eyes are looking around they're scanning the room and all of a sudden they're making mental note or literal notes of so-and-so's missing so-and-so's missing huh that so also said you're going to be here today but they're not here I wonder if they're okay you know and so this is the way that the mind of a Shepherd operates and so they're asking you know they're making mental notes in these notes and and literally the next day or even that afternoon they're calling them and and so a lot of times you know what people feel is they feel like they're you know someone's breathing down their back they're feeling like there's ulterior motives or there's but it's because they don't understand the heart of a Shepherd you know a true Shepherd will follow up and they'll they'll call them they'll say that they're missed and you know and it's because there's so many sheep that's been wounded and there's so much so many sheep that's been heard that when a true Shepherd comes into their life you know they always feel like you know what okay they put their guard up because there's ulterior motives but the heart of a Shepherd is you know what we really miss you so I'm trying to find out we really care for you want to pray for you so that's why I'm following out with you you know and so this is the heart of a shepherd fifth they they're sought out for support from others who are in need and so again our pastors and in our leadership at Renaissance they're incredible you know it's interesting that when we first started Renaissance people called me for all their problems they would call me you know we're having challenges here we're having challenges in this area our marriage our children can you pray for us can you counsel us and and so and that was okay you know because my wife and I were the senior pastors we're the senior leaders But as time went on I came into this place of a little insecurity because I stopped receiving the phone calls you know but I didn't get as many phone calls and I thought everything was going great or you know I thought what what's happening they stopped calling me and you know they they didn't need me you know so to speak and then I found out that there's other leaders around us that they're called to be a pastor and so all of a sudden naturally the ones who called us started calling our pastors and they weren't pastors at the time but they recognized the function and they recognized the heart of a shepherd and so they called them because they experienced maybe the type of Love they needed in their Brokenness and again I love people but you know the the function of a Shepherd is so different than the way that I function and so our pastors are able to walk step by step with wisdom and counsel you know and share with them their life experiences because a lot of our pastors they went through a lot and so we know that whatever we overcome gives us authority to impart and release and help other people in their breakthrough and so through their own personal Journey you know they're able to Shepherd people literally into healing wholeness and really the governing the the four Ephesians 4 11 pastors goal is to Pastor them not only to Healing not only to wholeness but to fulfill their Destiny and so this is what they're doing they started you know the people from Archer started calling them naturally because they're pastors you know and they're drawn towards that and so by the time I hear about a problem I'll make a phone call I'll call because I love people I love them but by the time I call them it's already taken care of oh you know what pastors Brian and Kelly's already been here you know uh Mary and Robert and Karen they've already you know been here they've already taken they've called us they've already visited you know it's incredible you know these are just Shepherds in our church our elders and so this is what they do this is who they are and if you're called to be a Shepherd you do this very naturally this is the picture and a portrait of a pastor for us to understand them and perhaps if you're a pastor for you to understand yourself so this is a picture of a pastor and we're going to talk about the challenges of the Pastoral anointing as a pastor should I stop here yeah that's good okay in a different way or was that good um yeah yeah let's just get another one okay so this is the picture of the pastor this is the portrait of a pastor to help us understand who they are to understand their heartbeat and for you if you're called to be a pastor to understand yourself as well but not only the portion of the pastor is important in this next portion we're going to speak about the challenges of the Pastoral anointing and ways to overcome that