Satan wants to steal your joy. We know ministry can be heavy, often beyond words, and Gunner Gundersen shares that this weight is actually one reason we gather each year for the 2025 CCEF National Conference. Our conference is for people called to care for others, those who carry each other's burdens even when carrying their own. The theme of one of our sessions will be joy. The apostle Paul has this paradoxical, otherworldly joy in the midst of grueling ministry experiences. He was "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." Join us in person or virtually this October!
Transcript
When I was a pastor, our elder team was once in the middle of a big controversial project. We had about 20 elders, and we were trying to change our leadership structure, and it was just grueling. And after yet another late night meeting, a 75-year-old elder pulled me aside to encourage me, and I'll never forget it, but there in the hallway, around 10:00pm he looked right into my eyes and he said, Satan wants to steal your joy. I know ministry can be heavy, often beyond words, and that weight is actually one reason we gather. Each year, our conference is for people called to help others, people who carry others' burdens, even as you carry your own. As a pastor, I know some of what you're carrying. It might be chronic pain, it might be church hurt, ministry burnout, questions about your calling, complex counseling situations, maybe prodigal children, and parenting, confusion, cultural questions, maybe even the death of a loved one. I also know this because I know that my fellow elder was right, that Satan wants to steal your joy too, and that's why I'm so excited to spend time with the apostle Paul this October. The theme of one of our sessions will be joy. Paul has this paradoxical, otherworldly joy in the midst of grueling ministry experiences. My favorite way he describes it is in 2 Corinthians 6:10—sorrowful yet always rejoicing. That's what I want. I know that's what you want. I hope you'll come so we can rediscover that joy together this October.
