Occasionally, some Christians mention feeling spiritually malnourished, and some criticize their pastors’ messages for not being practical or addressing their personal issues.
In response to this, Reverend Cao, who has been ministering in South China for many years, recently shared his insights. He believes Sunday worship is so important that pastors must preach well. On the other hand, Christians need to engage in regular devotions, as it is not a time to solve problems but to worship God on Sunday.
Besides focusing on the Sunday service through more attention paid to the sermon preparations, Cao said the church should provide pastoral care during the week so that believers are spiritually "well fed."
To ensure that believers are spiritually nourished throughout the week, pastors should guide them in developing devotional habits, including Bible reading, prayer, and reflection on the Sunday sermon. Cao also questioned, "Do those Christians who claim to be underfed have devotional habits?" If believers are spiritually starving during the week, they should not expect to be fully fed by one Sunday service alone. Those who are satisfied with attending service once a week need to assess their spiritual health.
Accordingly, pastoral care in the church should not be limited to the Sunday pulpit. To let Christians gain spiritual nourishment every day, pastoral care can be carried out in different forms.
Many churches advocate for small groups, but Cao believes that nourishment from small groups is not enough. For the church to multiply, it needs to build a comprehensive pastoral system, including Sunday worship, prayer meetings, discipleship training, marriage and family counseling, as well as church governance. He said that if the church does this, believers will be spiritually nourished during the week and will not have common relationship issues. If they apply the word of God to their daily lives, Sunday is a time to worship God with an offering for believers, who do not expect the pastor to solve their problems.
He added that church members should work together to build the family of God. If someone raises issues, such as "the hymn is not sung well and the preaching is deficient," other believers should strive to solve these issues. Even if you feel you cannot contribute much, you can stand at the church door, greeting people with a smile, "Welcome home, as we've been waiting for you for a long time."
- Translated by Abigail Wu
