{"id":22936,"date":"2024-10-03T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/?post_type=resource&p=22936"},"modified":"2024-10-02T15:57:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T19:57:26","slug":"pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is Part 1 of a series on <\/em>\u201cPursuing Gospel Joy\u201d in church ministry. Visit <\/em>replantblog.com<\/em><\/a> to read more from the series.<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cmountaintops\u201d of ministry …. How wonderful they are! Mountaintops are those seasons in which pretty much everything seems to be going great. New people are coming, finances are steady, people are excited and unified. Does it get any better than this?! I have at times wished ministry was marked exclusively by mountaintops.<\/p>\n

Of course, the reality is that ministry isn’t all mountaintops. Many things can suck the joy out of us as pastors and leaders in the church. The reality is that we all will experience dark valleys, cold shoulders, and times of deep discouragement. The question is, when these various challenges come \u2013 and they will \u2013 what do we do? Where do we go? Where do we find deep, supernatural, gospel joy that will help sustain us over the years? Where do we find the strength to \u201cCount it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness?\u201d (James 1:2-3)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s begin by first asking the question \u201cWhat exactly is gospel joy?\u201d Being a joyful person, biblically speaking, is not simply being someone who is happy all the time. It doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t have times when we are discouraged. Not at all. There will be times when we experience great discouragement. No, joy runs deeper than worldly happiness. It runs deeper than the circumstances of our ministries or lives.<\/p>\n

The primary catalyst for gospel joy comes to us as a result of our salvation in Christ. Simply knowing that we are sinners who have been redeemed by the amazing grace of God should bring us a sense of great joy! But God does not stop there. At our conversion, He actually pours His Holy Spirit into us, sealing us, infusing us with a supernatural joy the world cannot comprehend.<\/p>\n

Therefore, keep in mind the following:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joy comes with the settled assurance that God is in control of my life and His world.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joy exudes a quiet confidence that everything is ultimately going to be good because the Lord is on His throne.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joy is marked by the determined choice to praise God in every situation.<\/p>\n

You see, true gospel joy is rooted in a biblical understanding of the sovereignty of God. It comes when we understand that we have a God who reigns and rules over every square inch of existence. I\u2019m not sure there is a stronger catalyst for joylessness than failing to believe in the sovereignty of God. This is particularly true in our ministry as pastors and leaders in the local church. However, what we know from the Scripture is that the Lord is indeed sovereign. He is good. He is trustworthy. He is unshakable. He is all-wise. And because of these truths, we can find joy in Him in every circumstance.<\/p>\n

We know from Scripture that gospel joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit within us (Gal. 5:22-23). Joy is the natural result of God\u2019s work in a Christian\u2019s life, whether promised or fulfilled. In a sense, gospel joy is the overflow of the Spirit\u2019s presence and work in our souls, which springs up and leads to passionate praise and joyful obedience to the Lord no matter what comes our way in life.<\/p>\n

For this reason, gospel joy can be found even in the \u201cdark nights of the soul\u201d \u2013 those seasons of deep darkness that we all as pastors encounter from time to time. As R.C. Sproul writes:<\/p>\n

We may think that the dark night of the soul is something completely incompatible with the fruit of the Spirit, not only that of faith but also that of joy. Once the Holy Spirit has flooded our hearts with a joy unspeakable, how can there be room in that chamber for such darkness? It is important for us to make a distinction between the spiritual fruit of joy and the cultural concept of happiness. A Christian can have joy in his heart while there is still spiritual depression in his head. The joy that we have sustains us through these dark nights and is not quenched by spiritual depression. The joy of the Christian is one that survives all downturns in life.\u00b9<\/p>\n

When we look at these different characteristics of joy, we can see this is something we desperately need as leaders in imperfect, broken, yet redeemed congregations. We need a joy that is otherworldly. We need the joy of the Lord \u2013 and the peace and hope that embodies it \u2013 in the face of ministry challenges that are sure to come. By the power of the Spirit, let\u2019s fight for gospel joy! For ourselves, for others, and for the glory of God!<\/p>\n

\n

\u00b9R.C. Sproul, \u201cSpiritual Depression: The Dark Night of the Soul,\u201d Ligonier.org, <\/em>accessed November 12, 2018, https:\/\/www.ligonier.org\/blog\/the-dark-night-of-the-soul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is Part 1 of a series on \u201cPursuing Gospel Joy\u201d in church ministry. Visit replantblog.com …<\/p>\n

Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22937,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[53],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-22936","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-replanting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry - Church Replanting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is Part 1 of a series on \u201cPursuing Gospel Joy\u201d in church ministry. Visit replantblog.com … Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry Read More »\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Replanting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-02T19:57:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/Pursuing-Gospel-Joy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/\",\"name\":\"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry - Church Replanting\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/Pursuing-Gospel-Joy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-03T09:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-02T19:57:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/Pursuing-Gospel-Joy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/Pursuing-Gospel-Joy.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":525,\"caption\":\"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/\",\"name\":\"Church Replanting\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Church Replanting\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/01\/NAMB-Logo_Full_White.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/01\/NAMB-Logo_Full_White.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":523,\"caption\":\"Church Replanting\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry - Church Replanting","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry","og_description":"This is Part 1 of a series on \u201cPursuing Gospel Joy\u201d in church ministry. Visit replantblog.com … Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry Read More »","og_url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/","og_site_name":"Church Replanting","article_modified_time":"2024-10-02T19:57:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":525,"url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/Pursuing-Gospel-Joy.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/","url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/","name":"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry - Church Replanting","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/Pursuing-Gospel-Joy.jpg","datePublished":"2024-10-03T09:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-02T19:57:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/Pursuing-Gospel-Joy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/Pursuing-Gospel-Joy.jpg","width":1000,"height":525,"caption":"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/pursuing-gospel-joy-in-ministry\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pursuing Gospel Joy in Ministry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/","name":"Church Replanting","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#organization","name":"Church Replanting","url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/01\/NAMB-Logo_Full_White.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/01\/NAMB-Logo_Full_White.png","width":2560,"height":523,"caption":"Church Replanting"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/22936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22936"},{"taxonomy":"channels","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/channels?post=22936"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=22936"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=22936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}