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Theoretical Foundations of Pastoral Care Training (Course 301) — Lesson 3 Assignment

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

(06:07)

1. How should we serve people according to what they truly desire? (Question from Xuanjun)

(11:45)

2. If a sister receiving ministry does not yet fully understand “Mingding,” but often says that whenever she encounters a problem, she asks God, and God’s voice tells her what to do—is this normal? (Question from Xuanjun)

(14:22)

3. Teacher, some people are naturally timid. They fear this and fear that; they even fear God. She also wants to seek God properly, follow through with assignments, and engage in prayer warfare, hoping to break free from the bondage of fear. Yet much of her speech still reveals a wait-and-see attitude. What methods can we use to give such a person a push? (Question from Aiwei)

(17:31)

4. When we begin to pastor people, we will face many problems encountered by those under our care. How should we offer practical guidance and advice? Or should we, as far as possible, provide only spiritual principles and direction? Some fields are unfamiliar to us. (David)

(21:28)

5. For a newcomer who is still in the observation period, but remains very enthusiastic about serving in her former church and is confused about the truth, when should we begin to deal with her? (Yue’e)

(24:01)

1. Teacher, in pastoral care, when we see that someone is in great difficulty and that life is not easy for them, we may stand in their shoes and feel that they truly have it hard. Is this kind of feeling merely sentimental compassion? (Xuelian)

(27:37)

2. Because of fear, concern for appearances, and a constant desire for others’ approval, a little sheep is unable to do her work well and even makes mistakes. This has dealt a serious blow to her confidence. How can we help her build confidence and resolve this pressure? (Yue’e)

(30:08)

3. I know that I should be united with my pastor, and that seeking my pastor’s help when things happen can indeed help me grow faster. Yet I always find many reasons not to seek my pastor, and I go only when I can no longer endure it. How can I break through this tendency and learn to seek my pastor in all things?

(33:14)

4. During pastoral care, a pastor may not be highly educated or widely experienced, and growth takes time. How then should such a pastor lead someone whose education and knowledge exceed the pastor’s own, especially when that person is hungry for God, active in learning God’s word, and active in ministry, with no major problems apparent? (Wu Ruth)

(34:42)

1. Teacher, while serving in a small group, there are times when the problems in the brothers and sisters I serve suddenly become very obvious. They are either lazy, religious, or highly self-righteous. It is as though several great mountains requiring confrontation suddenly appear before me. Could it be that my own problems are being exposed through serving and pastoral care—for example, my own manifestation of judging good and evil? (Chasing Dreams)

(40:06)

2. Teacher, I know an older sister who has no interest in learning and is unwilling to pay the price for growth. As a result, she has no spiritual understanding. How can we teach such a person so that she may change? She considers herself to love and believe in the Lord deeply. Yet when her self-righteousness is pointed out, there is little change. (Jingjie)

(42:51)

3. Teacher, when pastoring a sister who puts on a false front, I point it out to her directly. She can accept it and admit her fault, but there is no major change, and she easily returns to her old ways. What can be done to help her break this bad habit? (Anqi)

(46:21)

4. A sister I serve has made a growth plan, hoping to overcome her habit of losing her temper. I feel that she must also change her underlying logic. Her temper arises because she considers too many things important; in her understanding, she does not realise that many things are simply not important. How should I specifically propel her growth? (Question from Ruge)

(49:04)

5. Teacher, my understanding is that everyone desires to grow inwardly. But how do we change someone who is presently lying flat? Should we let him continually experience enjoyment and a sense of fulfilment through the things he manages to accomplish? (Suni)

(51:24)

1. If the person under pastoral care only wants worldly benefits and only wants to solve worldly problems, must the pastor still make every effort to teach and help him? (Xiangxiang)

(56:28)

2. Teacher, a sister under my care loves the world and indulges the flesh greatly. She used to be very lazy. After retirement, she stayed at home and did nothing. Later, I pushed her to go out and work, and now she works as a domestic helper. Although she attends prayers and gatherings punctually, and generally completes her Bible study assignments on time, deep down she still loves the world. Whenever she comes to me with problems, it is obvious that she loves the world greatly. I have rebuked her many times and have used testimonies and stories to tell her that she needs to adjust her inner logic system, but the results have not been obvious. Have I handled something wrongly? Teacher, please guide me. (Yongyuan)

(59:20)

1. In the process of learning and growth, the person being ministered to may easily go off course and devise his own set of methods. Is it because he does not understand in his mind, or because he does not really agree with what the pastor teaches?

(1:02:22)

2. In pastoral care, they know their own problems and say that they want to change, but they simply cannot do it. What is going on?

(1:02:22)

3. Teacher, how can we enable those under our care to become clear and thorough in their hunger and understanding?

(1:04:37)

4. So, there is fundamentally no distinction between good and bad pastoral care. The key is whether it causes the person being pastored to grow. Can it be understood this way? (Liangliang)

(1:05:32)

5. How should we understand the idea that one who does not grow will be “burnt up”? I have always thought that encountering problems and solving them is itself training and growth. If a pastor feels pressure but continues to press forward by faith, does being “burnt up” depend on whether he can see through and understand God’s will? (Qianqian)

(1:07:09)

6. How should we deal with the bad habit of refusing to listen to others’ teaching, preferring to devise one’s own way, repeating the same mistakes even after seeing that things have not been done properly, refusing to reflect on the reasons, and finally shifting the blame onto others? (Eternal Love)

(1:09:57)

7. When a person feels that he is not capable, apart from building his confidence, reminding him to look at the overall trend, take things step by step, and make every effort, are there other suggestions? (Question from Ben)

(1:13:45)

1. Teacher, a sister under my care serves in a traditional church and looks after her grandchildren at home. When she needs healing and deliverance, she comes to me, but not often. She herself says that although she follows us in prayer and learning every day, she rarely has any manifestations of deliverance. While listening to the teacher’s answers today, it suddenly occurred to me: can I ask her whether she encounters problems in her service, and then begin from there to deal with the problems in her? (Question from Yongyuan)

(1:17:43)

2. Teacher, a girl I serve has suffered from sleep paralysis caused by evil spirits since childhood. After graduating from university, she went to a Taoist temple, learned occult arts and fortune-telling, made considerable money, and developed physical problems. Then she began seeing ghosts at any time and could even control them. She dared not sleep during the day, because whenever she slept, she would suffer from sleep paralysis. We ministered to her, drove out the demons, and she recovered. She then found a proper job and began working. After some time, she saw ghosts again. We urged her to clear away the accursed things, and she got better once more. But recently, because of work, she watched horror films on Douyin and began seeing ghosts again. Previously, when she saw ghosts, they merely stared at her grimly. This time, the ghosts came and beat her. In the course of ministering to her, we found that she is very self-righteous, capability-oriented, fond of shortcuts, and loves the world. She does not want to remain this way and is repenting. In her present condition, how should we effectively deal with these demons? (Question from Nisan)

(1:21:18)

3. Teacher, I have been pastoring a sister for almost half a year. Recently, her six-month-old granddaughter was diagnosed by the hospital with cri du chat syndrome and developmental delay. The whole family is extremely anxious. Her daughter was once baptised, but is only a nominal Christian. After this happened, the sister fell into confusion. She wondered how someone under God’s protection could encounter such a thing. I told her that the curses upon people today are the result of their past disobedience to God, and that a child’s problems are the mother’s problems. I encouraged her to share with her daughter the spiritual knowledge she has learned in church. But she said, “My daughter is in a bad state of mind now; I do not dare to say it.” She also said that the children of her sisters had merely been baptised, and she could not accept what I said—that the child’s problem was the mother’s problem. She made it clear that she could not accept my words. Teacher, when I know that her logic system and faith cannot accept what I am saying, was I too rigid in speaking to her so directly? How should I handle this matter? (Vivian)

(1:22:56)

1. I know that my own growth is important. Yet when I see that my child is not very obedient, I still become anxious and rush to lecture and scold her. How can I remain calm and steady, and carefully observe and obey God’s word?

(1:25:09)

2. Teacher, a sister under my care came among us because her son accumulated gambling debts of more than one million yuan online. She used to work in a factory, but recently resigned and started her own snack stall. When she encountered problems in running her stall, I continually taught her that nothing is too difficult for God, and that whatever problems arise, she must learn to trust God, because God can resolve them all. Later, she trusted God daily in her business and received much grace from God.

   From the beginning, regarding her son’s problem, I told her that she regarded her child too highly and indulged his flesh too much. She agrees with this. Yet whenever her son has a problem, she still becomes helpless. She worries that he may go hungry, worries that he may not have a good place to live, and simply cannot trust God. Every time I deal with her over these matters, she sincerely says that she recognises her problem and that she failed to overcome it again. How should this situation be handled? Should I simply let her sow her own seeds and wait until she pays the price for her own actions? (Question from Yongyuan)

(1:29:36)

1. When there is no pastoral relationship with family members, the devil seldom comes to disturb us. But once a pastoral relationship is established with family members, the devil begins to disturb us furiously. Why is this?

(1:30:17)

2. Teacher, in pastoring family members, how can we strike the right balance and bring family members who do not love learning from ignorance to knowledge, so that those under our care will make every effort rather than merely go through the motions? When leading them in Bible study, in what areas should I improve myself? When making plans, what should I pay attention to so that the plans may be more effective? (Bezalel)

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