I’ve been thinking back this morning to the many years of my life that I spent as a bi-vocational pastor.  If you’re in that role, I want you to know that my hat is off to you and that I salute you.  I also want you to know that I understand how difficult it is to do what you’re doing.  Don’t let anybody kid you about that.  What you are doing is just plain hard to do.  The truth is that pastoring is a full time job whether or not you have an additional full-time job. 

I also salute your family.  It’s very hard to balance family and two full-time jobs and it’s often the spouse that typically takes the brunt of being married to a bi-vocational pastor. 

More than anything else I want to stress to you that what you’re doing is important.  It’s vital.  You may be serving in a place were you’re never going to be noticed by other pastors.   You may be serving in a place where you’re never going to get a real salary or lot of staff.  You may even, at low times, feel that you’ve been forgotten by others and, at lower times, forgotten by the Lord but you need to know today that God has never forgotten you.  Never!

You simply must remember that you are working for the Lord.  You’re living for an audience of one and someday, if you remain faithful to your call, the Lord himself will say to you “Well done.”  Don’t give up.