Course Recording

Q&A Recording
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Pastoral Foundations Training (Course 301) - Lesson 2 Homework Assignment

1. Listen to the recording above.
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 leader.
5. Then proceed to the next lesson.

(06:00)

1. Several biblical perspectives: 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 perspectives. For newcomers, how do we start a dialogue with them and provoke reflection on their view of the "church"? (Qinqin)

(15:40)

2. A new sister is facing difficulties with the homework, as she cannot type. I taught her to share via voice messages. She feels inferior due to her lack of education and illiteracy. She values prayer highly. How should I guide her in this situation? (Suni)

Establishing Pastoral Relationships

1. I've noticed that most people enjoy teaching others, even when they are talking nonsense. When corrected, they try to teach you instead, leading to constant friction. Is a pastoral relationship necessarily a top-down relationship, requiring the removal of friendship? Can a pastoral relationship coexist with a peer relationship? (Ben)

(25:30)

2. Teacher, in building relationships with the sisters I pastor, I can help them by teaching the Word of God, addressing their bad habits, conveying faith, and expressing love in addressing their problems. In what other areas can I improve myself to foster pastoral relationships?

3. The pastoral relationship is a service in love. How should this "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 genuinely pastoring someone, and they initially seem genuine too, but gradually we discover they are pretending? (Xuanyun)

(34:10)

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

6. Teacher, when a pastor has the heart of a parent, does the extent to which this is reflected in each person being served depend on the depth of the relationship? (Ruying)

7. To build a pastoral relationship in love, some sheep are passive, not actively contacting the pastor or reporting their situation. How can we encourage these sheep to be more proactive? (David)

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

9. In the pastoral process, some people have no need for healing and deliverance, and their finances are fine, so they rarely contact the pastor. They enjoy listening to the teacher's sermons but do not put them into practice. Although it is clear that they love the world and money, the curse does not seem to have come upon them yet. No matter how much we teach, it seems to have little effect. Teacher, how can we establish a close pastoral relationship with such people to help them grow?

(40:10)

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

11. I am currently serving a sister, and the establishment of a pastoral relationship has been difficult. How should I proceed? Specific situation: After serving her for a few months, I recently started leading her in healing, deliverance, and casting out demons. Currently, she has a strong "I don't need to listen to you" attitude. She repeatedly ignores basic new believer training and requests to develop learning habits, such as attending meetings on time and taking notes, and only moves when pushed. When I try to understand if she is facing difficulties, her descriptions reveal solvable problems, but she stubbornly believes they are insurmountable and is unreceptive to other teachings. I sense that she does not want to follow the church's designed growth path and prefers to follow her own preferences. I believe this is related to her not recognizing our pastoral relationship. How can we truly establish a relationship going forward?

(46:15)

12. When pastoring a sister, she initially showed a strong aversion to me and did not mention prayer requests, only posting things in the group that she thought needed "prayer." She was also impatient with teachings. Later, she said she suddenly no longer felt averse and was willing to actively seek me out for prayer, and she experienced much release each time I prayed with her. Then I discovered that although she would not argue directly, she did not really listen to the teachings. She had her own set of logic regarding offerings, the church, and pastoral relationships. When I pointed out her problems in the hope that she would be blessed, she simply did not understand and kept explaining. In this process, I am often unclear about the extent of the relationship I have established 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 seeks the pastor when they cannot solve them themselves? (Baijia)

(53:30)

14. As a pastor, I am very willing to genuinely pastor, but some people (usually those without physical ailments or who are unwilling to talk about other problems) only want to follow the church to listen to the pastor's Bible studies and prayers and do not want to be pastored. They do not think they have any problems and consider the pastor's active concern as a disturbance or control and are very unappreciative. When the pastor points out areas where they need to grow, they are also unreceptive, making the pastor feel like they are forcing themselves on someone who is not interested. How can we establish a pastoral relationship with such people? How can we inspire a desire to be pastored? (Yanzi)

(1:00:30)

15. How can we judge a healthy relationship between a pastor and a person being served, and what are the manifestations of such a relationship? (Kuailefen)

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

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

(1:06:30)

18. In the process of pastoring, one becomes lazy and loses the initial fervor and willingness to pay the price. Now I am pastoring someone who has the same problem as me. How can we grow together? (Meishaonv)

19. Whether I am pastoring my own family or others, I am filled with enthusiasm and feel genuine, but the results of my pastoring are not optimistic. What is the problem? Teacher, what does it mean to be a genuine shepherd?

20. Does the relationship of mutual love mentioned in the church only exist between the pastor and the sheep? In our current state, with different pastoral districts and different pastors, the sheep may not know each other. Does this mean that there is 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, when the person being pastored and the pastor have different views on the same issue, what should the person being pastored do?

23. Teacher, if the person being pastored has a habit of pretending, what special methods can be used to address 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 oppression or a matter of the person's own attitude? How do we build a pastoral relationship with someone who is lukewarm?

(1:21:00)

25. I once pastored Sister XX and was truly 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 addressed some of her fleshly bad habits, she was unwilling to listen and did not like my teachings, only wanting me to pray for her. I believed that my pastoral relationship with her was good and that I loved her because I brought her into our Chinese Mingding Doctrine, wanting to solve her problems. What went wrong with my pastoring? Why were my teachings annoying? How should I handle the situation when I am clearly loving her but am perceived as not loving her? (Meizi)

Fleshly Bad Habits

1. Teacher, when addressing bad habits in those being served, it is sometimes necessary to be strict, but also to grasp the right degree of force. However, I find it difficult to be strict and do not know how to grasp the right degree of force. Can you give me some tips?
2. How do we pastor "loser" types of people?
3. You mentioned, "When seeing someone grow, the most important thing is to address their bad habits, and addressing them is a conflict." If there is a conflict, how should it be handled afterward? (Xuanyun)
4. Teacher, how do we build someone's faith while breaking down their flesh? How do we grasp the relationship and degree between the two? Is it that in the process of breaking down the flesh, the 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 stay-at-home mother who only picks up and drops off her children and has not worked. She has been with us for over 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 address their flesh, they become anxious and sometimes cannot hear God's word, unwilling to leave or move forward. How should we pastor in this situation?
7. In the process of pastoring, addressing people's bad habits will inevitably cause conflict. Sometimes, even if there is no conflict, we need to create conflict. Teacher, can you talk about how to create conflict, manage conflict, and transform conflict?

Love of the World (1:27:15)

1. Through this lesson, I learned how to establish a loving pastoral relationship with those being pastored, which is to serve with the heart of a father and mother, weeping with those who weep. Then the teacher also mentioned that pastoring requires learning to address people's problems. I feel that this point is not 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 goes out to serve brothers and sisters in other churches, but when it comes to addressing her own problems, she often sits on the bed and falls asleep during prayer meetings. Teacher, is this person pretending? This sister expresses the hope 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 feel that serving in this way is also ineffective. So, I would like to ask the teacher, how can we both weep with those who weep and address this sister's bad habits in this situation?

(1:32:30)

2. The person being pastored has gone to the hospital due to a serious illness. In this situation, what else should we do besides showing concern and asking about their condition? (Xuelian)

Lack of Understanding

1. Regarding a lack of understanding. A sister often listens to sermons, but her understanding is never clear. For example, she constantly monitors whether her husband is reading the Bible and praying. If he does, she is happy. How should we teach this type of person? (Jidian)

Healing and Deliverance

1. Teacher, I am selfish and indulge in my flesh, but I really want to become someone who genuinely serves and pays the price. The biggest challenge is sleep. Sometimes, after staying up late, I feel energetic the next day and my faith is multiplied. Other times, I feel dizzy and physically uncomfortable, so I indulge in my flesh again and then feel guilty. The pastor said to look at the trend of my growth with a developmental perspective, but I have not been able to put this into practice. I always feel like I am accepting my sin. Teacher, should I just let go of these messy thoughts and believe that God will definitely help me?

Pastoring Children

(1:39:15)

1. I have started pastoring my children. My son is 16 years old, and my daughter is 13 years old. They have both been in the church with us for many years. After studying this lesson, I feel that I have fatherly love for them in the pastoral relationship, but I often feel that I am too considerate of them. I often feel that if I push them too hard, they will resent it, 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 had always been scammed or failed in their investments for decades. Not long ago, they borrowed 600,000 yuan to invest in tungsten mining, but because various procedures could not be completed, it has been stalled. The partner said they would refund the money, but it has been delayed for more than a month. This sister is very worried. My question is, should I be concerned about her financial problems or the underlying issues that cause her financial problems? This sister is easily worried about worldly things and has a lack mentality, so my idea is to build her faith in God so that she can become someone who trusts in God. Is this correct? (Vivian)

About Pastoring Family

(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 build 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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