There are several men from history that have profoundly impacted the way that I think about pastoral ministry. One of the examples of this is found in a Puritan pastor named Richard Baxter. Richard Baxter believed that the responsibility of a pastor was to make regular visits into the home of the members for the purpose of teaching them the scriptures and holding them accountable. As I have read about his faithfulness in visiting the people in his church and instructing them, it has often inspired me. I have found myself dreaming of pastoring a congregation that was small enough and in close enough geographic proximity to be able to meet with each and every member in their home to teach the scriptures on a frequent and consistent basis. Just the thought of such an opportunity excites me. Unfortunately, that is just not the reality we live with in our present day and culture. As pastors, we are left trying to figure out how to pour into people’s lives when we have minimal access.
I do not pretend to have all the solutions to those questions but I would like to tell you about an exciting new avenue that we have created to pour into your lives. This week we are launching a brand new podcast called Family of Faith. The hope is that we will produce scripturally sound, theologically accurate, and practically useful content that can be brought into your home every week. Here are some of the aims:
First, we want it to be a podcast for Faith Bible by Faith Bible. There are a lot of really good podcasts out there for you to listen to throughout the week. However, there aren’t any out there produced by those that actually are responsible to lead you spiritually. In other words, I am glad that you take in good content written by other people outside our congregation but at the end of the day they are not your pastors.
There are many pastors who focus on producing content for a broad audience and for this we are thankful. However, there is no greater responsibility they have than the congregation in front of them. This is the heart of Family of Faith. Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” As a congregation you can’t imitate the faith of people that you don’t actually see live their lives and as pastor I can’t set an example of faith for people that can’t watch me live. While we may not achieve the same level of brilliance and production many other podcasts do, this one is produced just for you by people you know and love and that love you too.
The other important piece of information is that this project is a cooperative effort between all of the ministries. In other words, it is not just my thing or Family Ministry’s thing. We will be having all of the pastors—and sometimes their wives—on at different points to talk about topics and issues that are important to them and that they feel are important for you. We will also have other leaders from the church on to share their wisdom and insight. We would also like for you to communicate topic ideas or things that you would like to hear discussed. This is all about getting more effective in reaching into the places where you live and work with help from God’s Word and godly counsel.
We will publish a new episode every week on Thursday. Our first episode will be published this Thursday, December 7. The episode gives some insight into what family worship is and isn’t as well as some advice on how to get started even if your situation isn’t ideal.
The following episode to be published on December 14 deals with the topic of how to encourage your husband when he is not doing well spiritually. Again, we want to hear from you with topic ideas and suggestions. We are looking forward to what the Lord will do through this new ministry!
You can subscribe to the podcast here or you can stream and download the episodes here on the website.
Paul is Pastor of Trinity Church in Spokane Valley, planted by Faith Bible Church in 2022. He studied at Shepherd's Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Christie, have eight children: six girls, and two boys!
View Resources by Paul Funchess