Course Recording

Q&A Recording
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Pastoral Theory Foundation Training (Course 301) - Lesson 2 Assignment

1. Listen to the above recordings.
2. Take notes.
3. Based on the topic of this lesson, raise your confusions or questions.
4. Submit your notes and questions to your pastoral zone leader.
5. Then proceed to the next lesson.

(06:00)

1. Several biblical viewpoints: 1. The Lord is my shepherd; 2. Jesus said, "If you love me, feed my sheep"; 3. The church is the army of the Lord. I would like the pastor to briefly introduce how to connect these viewpoints. For those who are new to seeking, how to start a dialogue with them and provoke reflection on their view of "church"? (Qinqin)

(15:40)

2. A new sister is facing problems with her homework, she cannot type, and I taught her to share using voice messages. She feels that her education level is not good and that she is illiterate. She values prayer more. How should I teach her in this situation? (Suni)

Establishing Pastoral Relationships

1. I find that most people like to teach others. Sometimes, even when they are talking nonsense, when you correct them, they turn around and want to teach you, resulting in living with a fiery atmosphere all day long. Is a pastoral relationship a top-down relationship, and must the friendship aspect be removed to have a pastoral relationship? Can a pastoral relationship coexist with a peer relationship? (Ben)

(25:30)

2. Teacher, in building relationships with the sisters I am pastoring, I can help them solve problems by teaching the word of God, dealing with their bad habits, conveying faith, and expressing love in various forms. In what other ways can I improve myself and promote pastoral relationships?

3. Please, how should the "love" in a pastoral relationship, which is service in love, be measured so that both the pastor and the one being pastored can benefit? (Xuanyun)

4. Teacher, what should we do when we are serious about pastoring, and the person being pastored seems serious at first, but then we slowly discover that they seem to be playing games? (Xuanyun)

(34:10)

5. The teacher mentioned in the course that we are a loving whole, and whether we can pass on God's love depends entirely on the pastoral relationship. How can this sentence be better understood? (Xiaonai)

6. Teacher, if a pastor has the heart of a parent, does it depend on the extent of the relationship with each person being served? (Ruying)

7. To build a pastoral relationship in love, some of the sheep being pastored are passive, do not actively contact the pastor, and do not report their situation much. How can we get the sheep being pastored to be more proactive? (David)

8. Teacher, does someone who has some discernment of good and evil still need to build a relationship? If a pastoral relationship needs to be established, how should it be done? What are some good ways to build a relationship? (Ma Xile)

9. In the process of pastoring, some people do not have needs for healing and deliverance, and their finances are okay, so they rarely take the initiative to contact the pastor. They just like to listen to the teacher's sermons, but they do not put them into practice. Although it is clear that they love the world and love money, the curse does not seem to have come upon them yet. It seems that teaching more does not have much effect. Teacher, how can we establish a close pastoral relationship with such a person to help them grow?

(40:10)

10. Teacher, do you have any special strategies when building pastoral relationships with people who are introverted?

11. I am currently serving a sister, and the establishment of the pastoral relationship has been quite bumpy. What should I do to push it forward? Specific situation: After serving for a few months, I recently started to lead her in healing, deliverance, and casting out demons. Currently, the idea of "I don't need to listen to you" is quite obvious. Some basic requirements for new believer training and the development of learning habits, such as attending meetings on time and taking notes, she repeatedly ignores after being asked to do so, and only moves after being pushed a few times. When I want to understand if she has encountered difficulties, her descriptions are all problems that can be solved, but she stubbornly believes that there is no way to solve them, and she does not listen to other teachings. I can feel that she does not want to follow the growth path designed by the church and prefers to follow her own preferences. I think this is related to her not agreeing with our pastoral relationship. How can we truly establish a relationship next?

(46:15)

12. When pastoring a sister, she initially showed a strong aversion to me, did not mention prayer requests, and only posted things in the group that she thought needed "prayer." She was also impatient to listen to teachings. Later, she said that she suddenly no longer disliked me and was willing to take the initiative to ask me to pray, and she had a lot of deliverance every time I led her in prayer. Then I found that although she would not argue, she did not really listen to the teachings. Her views on offerings, the church, and pastoral relationships were all based on her own internal logic system. When I pointed out her problems in the hope that she would be blessed, she just did not understand and kept explaining. In this process, I often do not know to what extent I have established a relationship with her. How should I move forward?

13. What is the extent of a pastoral relationship when the person being pastored does not tell the pastor all their problems, but only comes to the pastor when they really cannot solve them themselves? (Beijia)

(53:30)

14. As a pastor, I am very willing to be serious about pastoring, but some people (usually those who do not have physical illnesses and are unwilling to talk about other problems) only want to follow the church to listen to the pastor's Bible study and sermons and prayers, and do not want to be pastored, nor do they think they have any problems. They consider the pastor's initiative to care for them as a disturbance and restraint, and they are not grateful. When the pastor points out areas where they need to grow, they do not buy it. It makes the pastor feel like they are trying too hard and not getting anywhere. How can we establish a pastoral relationship with such a person? How can we inspire people's desire to be pastored? (Yanzi)

(1:00:30)

15. How can we judge a healthy relationship between a pastor and a servant, and in what aspects is it reflected? (Kuailefen)

16. Is it a healthy relationship when the person being served is very obedient and completes the tasks arranged by the pastor? (Kuailefen)

17. Is "paying the price" the most important thing in pastoring? (Liangliang)

(1:06:30)

18. In the process of pastoring, I start to become lazy and not as enthusiastic and willing to pay the price as I was at the beginning. Now I am pastoring someone who has the same problem as me. How can we grow together? (Meishaonv)

19. Whether I am pastoring my family or other people, my heart is full of enthusiasm, and I feel like I am serious, but the results of pastoring are not optimistic. What is the problem? Teacher, what does it mean to be serious about pastoring?

20. Is the relationship of mutual love mentioned in the church only between the pastor and the sheep? Like our current situation, different pastoral zones, different pastors, and sheep may not know each other. Will there still be a loving relationship due to being in the same church and having the same Mingding Doctrine? (Qianqian)

(1:16:30)

21. Teacher, how do we establish a good pastoral relationship? What specific work needs to be done?

22. Teacher, what should the person being pastored do when they have different views on the same issue as the pastor?

23. Teacher, the person being pastored has the bad habit of pretending. What special methods can be used to deal with this in the process of building a relationship with them?

24. If a person is lukewarm, how do we determine whether this is a spiritual bondage or a problem with the person's own attitude? How do we establish a pastoral relationship with a lukewarm person?

(1:21:00)

25. I once pastored Sister XX and was really willing to pay the price to serve her. She could not lie down to sleep and often felt suffocated. I took her to pray day and night, but later when I taught her and dealt with some of her fleshly bad habits, she was unwilling to listen and did not like to listen to my teachings, only wanting me to lead her in prayer. I thought that my pastoral relationship with her was very good and that I loved her because I brought her into our Chinese Mingding Doctrine and wanted to solve her problems. Where is the problem with my pastoring? Why are my teachings annoying? Why is it that I am loving her but she thinks I am not loving her? How should I handle this situation? (Meizi)

Fleshly Bad Habits

1. Teacher, sometimes dealing with the bad habits of the person being served requires severity, but also requires grasping the strength. However, it is difficult for me to be severe, and I do not know how to grasp the strength. Can you give me some tips?
2. How do we pastor people who are "losers"?
3. Please, "When we see someone growing, the most important thing is to deal with their bad habits. If we want to deal with them, it is a conflict." If there is a conflict, how should we handle it after the conflict? (Xuanyun)
4. Teacher, how do we build the other person's faith while breaking down the flesh? How do we grasp the relationship and degree between the two? Is it that in the process of breaking down the flesh, the other person sees their own growth, and their faith is built up at the same time? (Suni)
5. When should we push someone to work? There is a full-time mother who just picks up and drops off her children every day and does not work. She has been with us for more than half a year. When is a good time to encourage her to work? (Jidian)

(1:25:30)

6. Some sheep have experienced many of God's graces, but when we deal with their flesh, they become anxious, and sometimes they cannot hear the word of God, are unwilling to leave, and cannot move forward. How should we pastor in this situation?
7. In the process of pastoring, dealing with people's bad habits will inevitably cause conflict. Sometimes, even if there is no conflict, we have to create conflict. Can the teacher talk about how to create conflict, manage conflict, and transform conflict?

Love of the World (1:27:15)

1. Through the study of this lesson, I have learned how to establish a loving pastoral relationship with the person being pastored, which is to serve with the heart of a father and mother, weeping with those who weep. Then the teacher also said that pastoring should learn to deal with people's problems. I don't think this point is very easy to grasp. A sister is very enthusiastic about serving her father and often writes in her notes about how she pays the price to serve her father. She also often runs outside to serve brothers and sisters in other churches, but when it comes to dealing with her own problems, she often sits on the bed and prays during prayer meetings, and then falls asleep. Teacher, is this person playing games? This sister hopes that I can serve her father, but her father has always loved the world and is unwilling to believe in God, so the situation keeps repeating. I don't think serving in this way is effective. How can we weep with those who weep while dealing with this sister's bad habits?

(1:32:30)

2. The person being pastored has gone to the hospital because of a serious illness. In this situation, what else do we need to do besides caring and greeting them? (Xuelian)

About Lack of Understanding

1. About lack of understanding. A sister often listens to sermons, but her understanding is never clear. For example, she keeps staring at whether her husband is reading the Bible or praying. If he reads, she is happy. How should we teach this type of person? (Jidian)

Healing and Deliverance

1. Teacher, I am very selfish and indulge in the flesh, but I really want to be a serious person who pays the price to serve. The biggest challenge is sleep. Sometimes after going to bed late, I am very energetic the next day and my faith is increased. Sometimes my head is dizzy and my body is uncomfortable, so I indulge in the flesh again, and then I blame myself. The pastor said that we should have a developmental perspective and look at the trend of our growth, but I have not been able to implement this point. I always feel that this is accepting my sin. Teacher, should I put down these messy thoughts and believe that God will definitely help me?

Pastoring Children

(1:39:15)

1. I have started to pastor my children. My son is 16 years old and my daughter is 13 years old. They have been in the church with us for many years. After studying this lesson, I feel that in terms of pastoral relationships, I have fatherly love for them, but many times I feel that I am too considerate of them. Many times I feel that if I push them too hard, they will be disgusted and the effect will be counterproductive. Is it more difficult for parents to pastor their own children than for ordinary brothers and sisters? Is pastoring one's own children a suitable start for a Christian who is just beginning to learn how to pastor? (Bryan)

Financial Problems

(1:41:45)

1. I have been serving a sister for about four months. When she first came, it was because of financial problems. She and her husband used to invest every time, but they were either cheated or the investment failed, and they had been struggling for decades. Not long ago, they borrowed 600,000 to invest in tungsten mines, but because various procedures could not be completed, it has been stalled. The partner said they would refund the money to them, but it has been delayed for more than a month. This sister is very worried. My question is, should I care about her financial problems or the problems behind her financial problems? This sister is easily worried about worldly things and has a lack mentality in her heart, so my idea is to build her faith in God so that she can become a person who trusts in God. Is this correct? (Weilian)

About Pastoring Family Members

(1:47:30)

1. The church teaches us about the relationship between pastoring and being pastored. If we are not in the church, such as in family relationships and workplace relationships, how should we establish healthy interpersonal relationships? Can we apply this spiritual principle? How do we apply it? Thank you, teacher, for your guidance. (Anqi)

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