In Ephesians 4: 11-12, our Lord Jesus talks of the gift that He gave to the churches, one of those being the Pastor. And then in verse 12, the Lord gives the three fold task of the pastor. In a sense, this verse is the Great Commission of pastors.

It says, "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ'.

1. We are to perfect the saints.

It is our job to teach and preach and counsel and advise and rebuke and instruct. We are tasked with, taking those that the Lord has given us and washing them with the Word. We are to lovingly point out sin, but to constantly try to get those in our church to perfect themselves whether they like it or not.

2. We are to supervise the work.

It can and should be a joyous work but it should be work. If there is no laboring, then there is no work. And that work should be for the purpose of the ministry. We are to take those that we have taught the first stages of their Christian life and prepare them for the work of the ministry. Many times a pastor does all the work himself instead of training others to multiply his efforts.

3. We are to edify the body.

So after we've led people to Christ and taught them and preached to them and after we've given them instructions about the ministry, then we are to edify 'by" telling them "good job". When's the' last time you sat down with your Sunday school teachers or ushers and told them how important their service is to your church. Tell them how much they are appreciated and you have created someone who’ll try even harder.