Thank You, Lord, for My Local Pastor: Thirty Reasons for Gratitude

Have you ever noticed how few photos you have with some of the people who matter most in your life? 

When you’re with your best friends, you rarely remember to pull out your phone because you’re so caught up in the conversation. You may have only a picture or two with the mentor who has opened her Bible beside you because you were too busy taking her words to heart to think about taking a photo. And your local pastor, whose teaching you sit under Sunday after Sunday, likely doesn’t appear in your camera roll at all. 

Their faces may be hard to find in your iPhone albums, but their influence is all over your life.

My pastor here in Houston is certainly one of those people. In 2024, he celebrated twenty years of serving our church. Among the pictures gathered for a commemorative book was one of us—a picture I barely remembered taking, of a girl I hardly recognized. She was just a nineteen-year-old college student, emerging from a season when she couldn’t have been lonelier. 

Seeing her brought me back to the evening I first attended a church service there. Because of the nature of my health issues, I’d been sick most mornings, unable to attend church consistently for months. By Easter, I was desperate to worship beside other believers, and even more so to not celebrate the holiday alone. So I searched for churches with evening services, found one nearly an hour away, drove all the way across the city, and walked in by myself.

At nineteen, I never could have known how much the Lord was giving me that evening: a church family, a place to belong, and a pastor whose faithful teaching would help shape my faith for more than fifteen years.

I don’t remember much of what my pastor said during that message, and even with notebooks upon notebooks filled with sermon quotes, I’ve forgotten the specifics of much of what he has taught me since. But I suppose we don’t remember every conversation around our childhood dinner table either. We remember how we were loved; we remember what our parents turned to when life was hard and whether the words they spoke were lived out in the ordinary hours of their days. Often, it’s not until years later, when we find ourselves making a choice they would have made or hear a familiar phrase in our own voice, that we begin to realize how much they gave us.

An Imperfect Man, a Precious Gift 

Recently, I came across an online discussion about a father who suggested using an audiobook to read to his baby. When his wife pointed out that the baby would be missing out on hearing his voice, he suggested an AI model could be trained to sound like him. 

The post immediately drew a flood of responses. Many were quick to point out that a child receives so much more in those moments than just hearing a story: there’s the intimacy and warmth of being held and spoken to by someone who loves him. Even a father who stumbles over his words while reading still gives his child something precious: his attention, his presence, himself. 

That discussion helped me find words for something I’ve been thinking about lately as I’ve considered the gift of local church pastors. Perhaps it’s true that our pastors could feed their own voices, ideas, and theological views into AI programs, and those programs could produce a more polished message, with sound doctrine and illustrations tailored to every person in the room.

But when I picture my pastor, the moments that have stayed with me over the years have little to do with his eloquence, perfectly constructed messages, or profound quotes. I think of him leading from his knees in the midst of a local or national tragedy. I remember the times when his voice has cracked with emotion and we’ve been given a window into the weight he carries and the burdens he’s personally had to entrust to the Lord. And I remember the Sundays when it seemed like he could hardly wait to share what he had discovered in the Word, his delight inviting us to see it for ourselves. 

Mostly I think of his humanity. My pastor—and yours—serves as an imperfect man, surrendered to Jesus and committed to serving His people. When he preaches, his words carry something of what that care has cost him: the unseen hours spent waiting on the Lord for wisdom and discernment, the burdens brought before Him in prayer, and his own daily need for the grace he proclaims. My pastor’s dependence on Jesus teaches me how to depend on Him too.

On a recent Sunday morning, my pastor said that “gratitude is the measure of your heart for what you have.” His words made me realize how little my gratitude tends to reflect the depth of what I’ve received. We can grow so accustomed to our pastors’ faithful presence that we stop noticing what a gift they are and how graciously the Lord has used them in our lives. When God has given us so much, wouldn’t we want our gratitude to grow as we begin to see the fullness of His generosity?

This Pastor Appreciation Month, let’s not miss the opportunity to take notice of what God has given us through our local pastor. Let these thirty reasons prompt you first to thank the Lord for His faithful provision through the pastoral staff at your church—and then ask Him to show you ways you can express that gratitude to your church leadership, whether through a card, a conversation, or a tangible gift to them and their families.

Thirty Reasons to Thank the Lord for Your Local Pastor

Thank you, Lord, for a pastor who . . . 

1. Has answered “yes” to Your call to shepherd our church, willingly accepting the care of the flock You have entrusted to him (1 Pet. 5:2–3).
    
2. Depends on Your grace in his own weakness, showing what it means to draw strength from You (2 Cor. 12:9–10).
    
3. Personally studies Your Word, working diligently to understand it correctly and to live out all that it says in his own heart and life (Ezra 7:10; 2 Tim. 2:15).
    
4. Loves and cares for his family, practicing faithfulness among those who know him best (1 Tim. 3:4–5).
    
5. Models a life of integrity, giving an example to consider and imitate (1 Tim. 4:12). 
    
6. Welcomes accountability and correction, recognizing that he, too, is a sinner in need of Christ (Prov. 15:22).
    
7. Seeks Your wisdom for decisions, recognizing his need for guidance that only You can give (James 1:5).
    
8. Faithfully preaches Your Word, correcting, rebuking, and encouraging (2 Tim. 4:2).
    
9. Keeps the gospel central, reminding us that our hope rests in Christ’s death for our sins and His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3–4). 
    
10. Teaches the whole counsel of Your Word, including passages that challenge us or may be costly to share (Acts 20:27). 
     
11. Devotes himself to prayer, bringing the church’s needs before You and teaching us to do the same (Acts 6:4).
     
12. Guards our church against false teaching, helping us recognize what is true and hold firmly to it (Titus 1:9).
     
13. Speaks the truth with patience, helping those who question, struggle, or disagree (2 Tim. 2:24–25).
     
14. Serves in practical, ordinary ways, showing that love takes shape in deeds as well as words (1 John 3:18).
     
15. Rejoices when You answer prayer or give cause for celebration (1 Cor. 12:26).
     
16. Perseveres through hardship, continuing to serve when its costly and fruit is difficult to see (2 Tim. 4:5).
     
17. Doesn’t show favoritism toward those with wealth, influence, or status, but seeks to love and value people like Jesus (James 2:1–5).
     
18. Weeps with us in seasons of grief, especially when pain is too great for words (Rom. 12:15).
     
19. Comforts us with comfort he himself has received from You, pointing us to Your mercy in our affliction (2 Cor. 1:3–4).
     
20. Cares patiently for people with different needs, encouraging the discouraged and helping the weak (1 Thess. 5:14).
     
21. Lovingly confronts sin and seeks the restoration of those who have wandered (Matt. 18:15–17).
     
22. Takes seriously his role, knowing that one day he’ll give an account to You (James 3:1).
     
23. Uses his authority for the good of those entrusted to his care (Ezek. 34:2–4).
     
24. Helps our church pursue unity, teaching us to bear with one another in love, humility, gentleness, and patience (Eph. 4:1–11).
     
25. Equips us to serve, inspiring each member to do their part to build up the whole body (Eph. 4:11–16).
     
26. Invests in younger leaders, equipping the next generations who are coming up behind him (2 Tim. 2:2).
     
27. Encourages us to make disciples in our community and among the nations (Matt. 28:18–20).
     
28. Labors for us to love You more and to find our ultimate joy and satisfaction in Christ (2 Cor. 1:24).
     
29. Shows us what it looks like to follow You over a time, in all seasons and circumstances, giving us a life to observe alongside words to remember (Heb. 13:7).
     
30. Keeps pointing us to Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, whose care is perfect and whose faithfulness will never fail (1 Pet. 5:4; John 10:27–30).

The Gift of an Ordinary Pastor

When I walked into my church on that first Sunday, I had no idea how the Lord would use years of ordinary services to strengthen my faith, but I could see hints of His kindness even then. What felt like such a gift to my nineteen-year-old self is still a gift to me. 

I know this isn’t everyone’s church story. You may have been wounded, disappointed, or betrayed by leaders who failed to care for those entrusted to them. The Lord sees that, and He has much to say about those who use their position to serve themselves while neglecting or harming His sheep (Ezek. 34:1–10). My prayer is that soon you’ll experience His tenderness and healing of those hurts through a church family whose leaders do reflect His heart. 

But if you have received faithful pastoral care, take time to recognize it. Thank the Lord for the incredible blessing of having an ordinary human pastor who loves Christ and seeks to serve His church. Express your gratitude to Him—and then let your pastor know how God has used his ministry and his dependence on Christ to change your life for eternity.