Pastor, your task is impossible (but with God, all things are possible)

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Now, dear friends, the hardest thing in the world is to give a man understanding. It is our duty, in our preaching and teaching, to make things very clear to the understanding; but if people have not any understanding, we cannot give it to them; but God can. When the understanding itself is darkened, and ceases to be an understanding, God can so renew it that it shall be all clear and bright, and it shall be able to comprehend the things of God. “The Lord made me understand.” Oh, what a privilege! Not merely, “made me hear”, but “made me understand.” And how did the Lord do it? “In writing,” says David, “by his hand upon me.” The writing was written on David’s own mind; he had not to go upstairs to fetch it; he had not to say, “I cannot always carry it about with me;” but he did always carry it about with him wherever he went; for God had written upon David himself.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this quotation in your own preaching to describe our blindness to our sin.

Did you ever try to pull a bucket up a well? You know that, when it is full of water, you can pull it easily so long as the bucket remains in the water. But when it gets above the water, you know how heavy it is.

It is just so with you. While you are in sin, you do not feel it to be a burden. It does not seem to be evil. But if the Lord once draws you out of sin, you will find it to be an intolerable, a heinous evil.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

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THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

We have been commissioned to teach people the truth of God, which is something that only God can do.

And yet, this doesn’t make our work hopeless — it fills us with great confidence, knowing that our ministry success does not depend on our ability, but on God’s power.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

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Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, you have a serious need for prayer

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

The preacher is above all others distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian or he is a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians or he is disqualified for the office which he has undertaken. “It would be wholly monstrous,” says Bernard, “for a man to be highest in office and lowest in soul; first in station and last in life.”

Over all his other relationships the pre-eminence of the pastor’s responsibility casts a halo, and if true to his Master, he becomes distinguished for his prayerfulness in them all. As a citizen, his country has the advantage of his intercession; as a neighbor those under his shadow are remembered in supplication. He prays as a husband and as a father; he strives to make his family devotions a model for his flock; and if the fire on the altar of God should burn low anywhere else, it is well tended in the house of the Lord’s chosen servant—for he takes care that the morning and evening sacrifice shall sanctify his dwelling. He offers peculiar supplications as a minister, and he draws near to God in this respect, over and above all his approaches in his other relationships.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this quotation in your own preaching to describe God’s care for us.

The gardener knows where his plants will flourish best. Some of them might wish to grow in the sunshine although, like the fern family, they are better in the shade. Some of them would prefer to be on a mossy bank, but the gardener puts them in a sandy soil because he knows that it is better suited to the requirements of their nature.

You may depend on it that there never was any earthly father who was so attentive to the needs of his child as your heavenly Father is to yours. When you decide as to the occupation you think it best for your son to follow, you may select the very career that will prove to be his ruin. But when God plans your future, he takes more care in arranging for you than you do in arranging for your boy. And as he sees the end from the beginning, which you cannot see either for yourself or for your child, he chooses for you with infinite and unerring wisdom.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

A Simple, Step-by-Step Guide for Sermon Prep

I’m always looking for resources to grow as a preacher (and to train other men in my church). Recently, I’ve been helped by a new book, Preaching: A Simple Approach to the Sacred Task by Daniel Overdorf, which I received a copy of from Kregel.

This is a practical resource that breaks down the preaching process into eight simple steps. This isn’t just another book about what preaching it is, it’s a step-by-step guide for crafting a sermon.

If you’re a new preacher, this book will help you fine-tune your process. If you’re an experienced preacher, this book will help you continue to refine and will be a great resource to help others.

Buy Preaching by Daniel Overdorf:

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

We know in our heads that we have a deep need for prayer, and yet our prayer life is often overshadowed or shortened by the demands of ministry. We need to increase our confidence in prayer, because our people will be more helped by an hour spent praying for them than an hour spent reading a book about how to help them.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

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Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, the church must affirm you

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Young brethren apply who earnestly desire to enter the ministry, but it is painfully apparent that their main motive is an ambitious desire to shine among men. These men are, from a common point of view, to be commended for aspiring, but then the pulpit is never to be the ladder by which ambition is to climb.

Had such men entered the army they would never have been satisfied until they had reached the front rank, for they are determined to push their way up—all very laudable and very proper so far; but they have embraced the idea that if they entered the ministry they would be greatly distinguished; they have felt the buddings of genius, and have regarded themselves as greater than ordinary persons, and, therefore, they have looked upon the ministry as a platform upon which to display their supposed abilities.

Whenever this has been visible I have felt bound to leave the man “to gang his ain gate,” as the Scotch say; believing that such spirits always come to nought if they enter the Lord’s service. We find that we have nothing whereof to glory, and if we had, the very worst place in which to hang it out would be a pulpit; for there we are brought daily to feel our own insignificance and nothingness.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

Add Spurgeon’s Lost Sermons to your library (Up to 69% off!)*

The Lost Sermons are a collection of books featuring Spurgeon’s earliest sermon outlines and manuscripts. Until a few years ago, these sermons weren’t available for reading ANYWHERE, but now you can now read hundreds of these incredible sermons in a collection of beautiful books.

Lifeway is currently selling the Lost Sermons at DEEP discounts, so I highly encourage you to grab a few individual volumes or the complete Collector’s Edition set.

Buy The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon from Lifeway.com — Up to 69% off.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this quotation in your own preaching to describe God’s gentle response to our repentance.

Have you never heard of the man who lost his way one night, and came to the edge of a precipice, as he thought, and in his own apprehension fell over the cliff? He clutched at an old tree, and there hung, clinging to his frail support with all his might. He felt persuaded that, should he quit his hold, he would be dashed in pieces on some awful rocks that waited for him down below. There he hung, with the sweat upon his brow, and anguish in every limb. He passed into a desperate state of fever and faintness, and at last his hands could hold up his body no longer. He relaxed his grasp! He dropped from his support! He fell—about a foot or so, and was received upon a soft mossy bank, whereon he lay, altogether unhurt, and perfectly safe till morning.

Thus, in the darkness of their ignorance, many think that sure destruction awaits them, if they confess their sin, quit all hope in self, and resign themselves into the hands of God. They are afraid to quit the hope to which they ignorantly cling. It is an idle fear. Give up your hold upon everything but Christ, and drop. Drop from all trust in your works, or prayers, or feelings. Drop at once! Drop now! Soft and safe shall be the bank that receives you. Jesus Christ, in his love, in the efficacy of his precious blood, in his perfect righteousness, will give you immediate rest and peace.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Ministry is a horrible place to stroke your ego. The church belongs to the Lord Jesus, and it must exist for his glory, not our own. Instead of seeking to build ourselves up in pride, we should acknowledge our own unworthiness, and cling to our God.

In the pulpit, “there we are brought daily to feel our own insignificance and nothingness.” — Spurgeon

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Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, the church must affirm you

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

The signs and marks of a true bishop are laid down in the Word for the guidance of the church; and if in following such guidance the brethren see not in us the qualifications, and do not elect us to office, it is plain enough that however well we may evangelize, the office of the pastor is not for us. Churches are not all wise, neither do they all judge in the power of the Holy Ghost, but many of them judge after the flesh; yet I had sooner accept the opinion of a company of the Lord’s people than my own upon so personal a subject as my own gifts and graces.

At any rate, whether you value the verdict of the church or no, one thing is certain, that none of you can be pastors without the loving consent of the flock; and therefore this will be to you a practical indicator if not a correct one.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

3 things your children’s ministry workers need to hear this year

You know that children’s ministry doesn’t happen automatically — a team of men and women are serving, praying, and planning so that kids in your church can learn in a safe and fun environment.

As you plan for the new year, here are three things every pastor needs to tell their children’s ministry workers in 2023.

Read the Full Article

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this quotation in your own preaching to describe our need for Christ.

The dove is hunted by the hawk, and finds no security from its restless enemy. It has learned that there is shelter for it in the cleft of the rock, and it hastens there with gladsome wing. Once wholly sheltered within its refuge, it fears no bird of prey. But if it did not hide itself in the rock, it would be seized upon by its adversary. The rock would be of no use to the dove, if the dove did not enter its cleft. The whole body must be hidden in the rock. What if ten thousand other birds found a fortress there, yet that fact would not save the one dove which is now pursued by the hawk! It must put its whole self into the shelter, and bury itself within its refuge, or its life will be forfeited to the destroyer.

Jesus invites all those who labour and are heavy laden to come to him, and he will give them rest. He does not promise this to their merely dreaming about him. They must COME; and they must come to HIM, and not merely to the church, to baptism, or to the orthodox faith, or to anything short of his divine person.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

We cannot shepherd our people “without the loving consent of the flock.” It doesn’t matter how strong our vision is or how much conviction we hold, we cannot lead people by force. We are not to lead by “lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

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Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, the church needs you. And you need God.

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

As surely as the man wants his hour, so surely the hour wants its man. The church of God is always urgently in need of living ministers; to her a man is always more precious than the gold of Ophir. Formal officials do lack and suffer hunger, but the anointed of the Lord need never be without a charge, for there are quick ears which will know them by their speech, and ready hearts to welcome them to their appointed place.

Be fit for your work, and you will never be out of it. Do not run about inviting yourselves to preach here and there; be more concerned about your ability than your opportunity, and more earnest about your walk with God than about either. The sheep will know the God-sent shepherd; the porter of the fold will open to you, and the flock will know your voice.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

Special thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring the Pastor’s Note newsletter. The CSB is both accurate and readable. So that you (and your flock) can read God’s Word with confidence, clarity, and precision.

Click here to learn more about the CSB (and request a free CSB Bible).

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this quotation in your own preaching to describe the power of Christ.

 Sinner, fly to Christ! But you answer, “I am too vile.” The viler you are, the more will you honour him by believing that he is able to protect even you. “But I am so great a sinner.” Then the more honour shall be given to him if you have faith to confide in him, great sinner though you are. If you have a little sickness, and you tell your physician—“Sir, I am quite confident in your skill to heal,” there is no great compliment in your declaration. Anybody can cure a finger-ache, or a trifling sickness. But if you are sore sick with a complication of diseases which grievously torment you, and you say—“Sir, I seek no better physician; I will ask no other advice but yours; I trust myself joyfully with you;” what an honor have you conferred on him, that you can trust your life in his hands while it is in extreme and immediate danger! Do the like with Christ; put your soul into his care: do it deliberately, and without a doubt.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

God has called you to shepherd the flock among you. The Lord has called you to this ministry and he will call you to give an account. May he find us faithful to have served our churches and not our own desires.

Your church is not an obstacle to your ministry — it is the family that God has called you shepherd. Praise him for this blessed task.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, long for souls to be saved

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

It is a marvel to me how men continue at ease in preaching year after year without conversions. Have they no bowels of compassion for others? No sense of responsibility upon themselves? Dare they, by a vain misrepresentation of divine sovereignty, cast the blame on their Master? Or is it their belief that Paul plants and Apollos waters, and that God gives no increase? Vain are their talents, their philosophy, their rhetoric, and even their orthodoxy, without the signs following. How are they sent of God who bring no men to God?

As a man to be set apart to the ministry, his commission is without seals until souls are won by his instrumentality to the knowledge of Jesus. As a worker, he is to work on whether he succeeds or no, but as a minister he cannot be sure of his vocation till results are apparent.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this quotation in your own preaching to describe the free offer of salvation.

The point in the invitation is—when is it? Somebody says, “Will you come to my house to dinner?” Well, if that is all he says, I do not come. But if he says, “I dine at half past five,” then he gives me the time of day and tells me when he wants to see me. You know if a person says, “Whenever you are going by this way I shall be glad to see you,” you never call in at all. But if a man says, “I will be glad to see you at such-and-such a time,” you understand his invitation.

And now the Holy Spirit puts a time to the invitation. I am not invited tomorrow, but the Holy Spirit says to me, “Come to Christ today.” And he says to you, “Today, even now, come seek and find every good in Jesus joined.” “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.” The time is fixed, and the time is fixed for today.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

This week, Spurgeon claimed that a man cannot be a minister without seeing the fruit of conversion. While I think he is probably overstating it a little bit (there are many other valuable fruits to search for from a man’s ministry, not only conversion), his words are a reminder that we must earnestly long for and work toward the conversion of sinners.

God has saved us by grace and we must long for his grace to extend to many more. Let us pray and work to this end in the new year.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

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Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, Christ himself has sent you to preach this Christmas

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Suppose that, this morning, after reading this letter, an angel should meet you, and lay his hand upon you, and say, “The Lord God Almighty has sent me to commission you to preach the gospel henceforth.” Brother, you would feel a burden laid upon you, and yet you would feel renewed confidence and ardor. But no mere angel’s hand has touched you, brother; the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who redeemed you with his most precious blood, has laid this “necessity” upon you.

The pierced hand, which gave you healing, has appointed you to your Lord’s service, and made you a chosen vessel to bear his name. Hear afresh from His lips the commands, “Feed my sheep” and “Feed my lambs,” even as Peter did by the Sea of Galilee.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this quotation in your own preaching to describe the wonder of the incarnation.

Those little hands will one day grasp the scepter of universal empire; those little arms will one day grapple with the monster ‘Death’, and destroy it; those little feet shall tread on the serpent’s neck, and crush that old deceiver’s head; yes, and that little tongue, which has not yet learned to articulate a word, shall, before long, pour from his sweet lips such streams of eloquence as shall fertilize the minds of the whole human race, and infuse his teaching into the literature of the world; and again a little while, and that tongue shall pronounce the judgments of heaven on the destinies of all mankind.

We have all thought it wonderful that the God of glory should stoop so low; but we shall one day think it more wonderful that the Man of sorrows should be exalted so high. Earth could find no place too base for him; heaven will scarcely find a place lofty enough for him.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Merry Christmas! We have a ministry because our Lord came to save us, and that is something worth preaching (at Christmas and all year).

The sermon illustration above came from “A Visit to Bethlehem,” which is one of my all-time favorite Spurgeon sermons. I’d highly encourage you read it devotionally this week.

As you preach this weekend, remember that the glorious Christ who came to save you has commissioned you to preach his gospel. No matter how many people show up to your services this weekend, he is worthy of your all.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, faith is the goal of our ministry (and so we preach by faith)

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

The object of our preaching, as well as its doctrine, is faith; for we reckon that we have done nothing for sinners until, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we bring them to faith; and we only reckon that our preaching is useful to saints as we see them increase in faith. As faith is in our hand the power with which we sow, and as the seed we sow is received by us by faith, and steeped in faith, so the harvest for which we look is to see faith springing up in the furrows of men’s hearts to the praise and glory of God.

Interwoven, therefore, with our entire spiritual life, and with all our ministerial work, is the doctrine and grace of faith; and, therefore, we must be very clear upon it — that is a small business; we must be very strong in it — that is the great matter. I am praying earnestly that we may all be like Abraham, “strong in faith, giving glory to God,” and, like Stephen, “full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.”

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the cost of following Christ.

Before we buckle on the Christian armor we ought to know what that service is which is expected of us. A recruiting sergeant often slips a shilling into the hand of some ignorant youth, and tells him that Her Majesty’s Service is a fine thing, that he has nothing to do but walk about in his flaming colors, that he will have no hard service—in fact, that he has nothing to do but to be a soldier, and go straight on to glory.

But the Christian sergeant, when he enlists a soldier of the cross, never deceives him like that. Jesus Christ himself said, “Count the cost.” He wished to have no disciple who was not prepared to go all the way—“to bear hardness as a good soldier.”

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

The goal of our ministry is “to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles” (Romans 1:5). We aim to see the lost converted through saving faith; we aim to see the saints grow with strengthened faith.

Since faith “is not from yourselves” (Eph 2:8), we are powerless to fulfill our ministry on our own. So, by faith, we labor for the faith of our people, trusting God to give the growth.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

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Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, don’t rest in your own strength

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

For some work we choose none but the strong; and when God calls us to ministerial labor we should endeavor to get grace that we may be strengthened into fitness for our position, and not be mere novices carried away by the temptations of Satan to the injury of the church and our own ruin. We are to stand equipped with the whole armor of God, ready for feats of valor not expected of others: to us self-denial, self-forgetfulness, patience, perseverance, longsuffering, must be every-day virtues, and who is sufficient for these things? We had need live very near to God, if we would approve ourselves in our vocation.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the urgency of faith.

There will be time enough for you to ask all proper and right questions, and to have them answered, when you have sought and found the Savior. But, meanwhile, your immortal soul is in jeopardy, so attend to that first of all. A man who is sinking in the sea is mad if he says, “I won’t lay hold of that rope until I understand all about astronomy.” A man in a burning house does not need to trouble his head about geology; his first business is to get to the fire escape. He can leave his study of geology until tomorrow.

So, you unconverted ones should “seek first his kingdom and righteousness,” and all other things you need shall be added unto you (Matt 6:33)

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Our work is urgent — we plead with men in burning houses who are worrying about geology. We cannot be convincing enough speakers or powerful enough leaders to finish this task on our own. We are in desperate need of God’s grace.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pastor, don’t forget your call

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

It will be well for us never to forget our personal commission to preach the gospel, for I hope you have each of you received such a personal commission, and know it; or else why are you here? Leave the ministry, brethren, if you have not received it of the Lord. I preach—I dare to say it—because I can do no otherwise; I cannot refrain myself; a fire burns within my bones which will consume me if I hold my peace.

Every God-sent Christian minister is as much called to preach the gospel as was that apostle to whom Ananias spoke concerning “the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto you in the way.” This makes our preaching a solemn business.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the foolishness of testing God.

There are some people, who seem as if they would not be converted unless they can see some eminent minister. Even that will not suit some of them; they want a special revelation from heaven. They will not take a text from the Bible,—though I cannot conceive of anything better than that;—but they think that, if they could dream something, or if they could hear words spoken, in the cool of the evening, by some strange voice in the sky, then they might be converted.

Well, brothers and sisters, if you will not eat the apples that grow on trees, you must not expect angels to come and bring them to you. We have a more sure word of testimony in the Bible than we can have anywhere else. If you will not be converted by that Word, it is a great pity; and it is much more than a pity, it is a great sin. If your Lord and Master condescended to receive consolation from an angel whom he had himself created, you ought to be willing to gather comfort from the feeblest speech of the poorest person, from the least of the people of God when they try to cheer you.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Pastoral ministry comes with unique challenges, but it also comes with unique blessings. We don’t just preach because it’s a good-enough job. We preach because we have been called. And this call is God’s mercy (2 Corinthians 4:1).

Remembering our call to preach the Word — in season and out of season — will sustain us on the hardest days.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC