The Pastor's Heart of the Apostle Paul for the Churches

Introduction

Rafa Alberola opens the first study of the 2026 convention of the Église Franco-Espagnole Le Phare. He speaks in Spanish, with a French translation. He comes from Spain with his wife and says he feels "blessed" every time he visits France, because he knows the early days of this church and its work to help others know Christ.

He starts from Jesus, the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Jesus did not only give his life: he devoted his ministry to preparing men who, clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit, would carry on after him. And along the way, seeing crowds like sheep without a shepherd, he was moved with compassion and cared for their needs.

This is the heart the preacher finds in the apostle Paul: "a man who cares about his sheep, a man who is passionate about his sheep." By following Paul's visits and letters, he shows how to care for God's family, including those who criticize us.

Outline of the Message

1. Paul Does Not Plant a Church Just to Forget It

In Acts 15:36, Paul says to Barnabas: "Let's return now and visit our brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing."
Paul did not only preach and found churches. He wanted to go back and see them, learn what they needed, share fellowship with them and help them. When he could not come, he wrote a letter to encourage them or to ask how they were doing.
In those days there was no telephone. Today we have one, and the preacher reminds us how much we appreciate it when a brother or a pastor comes to see us or calls to ask how we are doing in the place where we serve the Lord.
Even without knowing one another, even in different countries and cities, those who have received Jesus as Savior are brothers and sisters: God's family, with the same God and the same guide, the Bible. These relationships between Christians, between leaders and between churches need to be nurtured.
We often make excuses: "I have so much to do." And without realizing it, many people fall into oblivion. You may not notice it, but the person who has been forgotten feels it in their heart.

2. In Prison, Paul Keeps the Churches in His Heart

Paul had no excuse of that kind. The prisons of his day had none of today's comfort: they were harsh, cold places where people lacked many things. Yet it was in prison that he wrote four letters.
To the Ephesians: he never stops giving thanks for them, mentioning them in his prayers, because he has heard of their faith and of their love for all the saints (Ephesians 1:15-16).
To the Philippians: "I thank my God whenever I remember you," because of the part they take in the gospel (Philippians 1:3-5).
To the Colossians, he gives thanks for their faith and their love for all the saints (Colossians 1:3-4). To Philemon, a closer friend, he writes that he always thanks his God, mentioning him in his prayers (Philemon 4-5).
To the Thessalonians, he recalls "your work of faith and labor of love, and perseverance of hope" (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). Their life was so visible that it had reached Paul's ears and heart, and gratitude was born from it.
What strikes the preacher: Paul knows how these churches are living. He knows their journey, their faith, their love for all the saints. "That is a pastor's heart."

3. Timothy and Titus, Closer Relationships

In God's family, there are brothers and sisters with whom the relationship is closer and more like a friendship. These are the ones to whom you can open your heart wide, and from whom you receive comfort and help.
To Timothy, Paul writes that he constantly mentions him in his prayers (2 Timothy 1:3), and calls him "my true child in faith" (1 Timothy 1:2). To Titus: "my true child according to a common faith" (Titus 1:4).
He left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to set in order what remained to be settled, because he knew their hearts. These were men he was training, called to carry on when he was no longer there.
Seeing people or churches walk uprightly before God should be a reason for pride neither for the one who writes nor for the one who receives. It is a reason for satisfaction and confidence: tomorrow, the work will remain in good hands.

4. Give Thanks Even for Those Who Criticize You

Visiting, loving and giving thanks for people who serve God with all their heart should not be a problem: it should become a daily habit. But calling and sharing fellowship with those who criticize you, who question your leadership, your family or your very life, costs more.
Jesus taught us to do good to our enemies, because loving our friends is easy.
Paul wrote two letters to a church that spoke ill of him and challenged his apostleship. The Corinthians tolerated sin, showed partiality between people, and some lived in abundance while others were in need. Yet he writes: "I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:4).
For Paul, that was enough: the same grace that had reached him when he was a persecutor and a blasphemer had reached the Corinthians just as they were.
This did not stop him from dealing firmly with each situation, on the personal level (the man who was living with his father's wife) as well as on the level of the church. Paul went straight at it, without evasion. And it bore fruit: "you were made sorry in a godly way," a sorrow that led them to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9).
Imagine having your life, your family and your ministry questioned while you are walking uprightly before the Lord. That is the heart of a man of God: even when slandered, he keeps praying and keeps dealing with situations.

5. The Galatians, the Pain of Work That Seems in Vain

The only letter in which Paul does not give thanks is the one to the Galatians. He confronts them from the very beginning: "I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different 'good news'" (Galatians 1:6-7).
In chapter 4, verse 11, he says something that deeply touches the preacher: "I am afraid for you, that I might have labored for you in vain." As if to say: my work in the Lord among you may have been for nothing. They had begun in the Spirit and were ending in the flesh (Galatians 3:3).
Yet this is a mature, spiritual man, experienced in the gospel, who speaks this way. This church had started well, he had put all his effort and all his trust in the Lord into it, and it affected him deeply. The preacher says he searched to find out whether this church finally responded well, and found no answer.
Jeremiah gave almost his whole life to the Lord without seeing fruit. Many Christians have lived this in their own flesh: hours of devotion, hours of prayer for people, and the feeling that it was all in vain.
Seeing people give up or be lost brings pain. Paul depended on God's grace, but "he was not made of stone": he had a heart passionate for souls. God's desire is that no one should perish, and it must be our desire too.

6. Rome, the Long-Awaited Visit

One visit was still pending for Paul: Rome, a church he did not know personally. He tried several times to go there and was prevented.
God had a plan. Paul finally reached Rome after a shipwreck and three months on the island of Malta. He lived there in a rented house, guarded by a soldier, with complete freedom to preach. According to the preacher, it was in Rome that he died.
Romans 1:8-15: "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world." Paul longs to see them "that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established," or rather so that, together, they may be encouraged by each other's faith, "both yours and mine."
Without knowing them, Paul knew that their faith was known throughout the Roman Empire, and he felt himself their debtor: he owed a duty to Greeks and to foreigners, to the wise and to the foolish.
The preacher applies this to the church that welcomes him: "I am in a place where I do not live, but I feel at home, because you are my brothers and sisters. You are my family." He and his wife keep this church in their hearts and pray for it.
The work is vast, and there are people we do not know. Sometimes you want to visit them and God does not yet give you the moment. But it is good for them to know that your heart cares about them.

7. "God Is My Witness"

In verse 9, Paul writes: "For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son." He does not take just anyone as a witness. When a man tells you "how good you are," he may be flattering you. But God knows your thoughts and your intentions.
This testimony reveals a transparent heart, without hypocrisy, without hidden motives or self-interest, submitted to the authority of Christ, whose greatest desire is to please God and glorify him.
By contrast, when we live more under the law than under grace, we seek our own recognition. We no longer see our mistakes, we always want to be right, no one can teach us anything, we justify everything and we seek the approval of people before God's. The image we have of ourselves becomes distorted and we live deceived about ourselves.
In the judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31-40), the righteous did not even know what they had done. It was natural for them. But God was a witness to it: "Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
The others say: in your name we prophesied, cast out demons and did miracles; we ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets (Matthew 7:21-23, Luke 13:26). Jesus answers: "I never knew you." They spoke of themselves with pride; they lived for themselves and not for the glory of God.
God bears witness about David: "a man after my heart" (Acts 13:22). And Paul writes again: "For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the tender affection of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:8).
If you say "I love my brother" and the next moment you are quarreling with him, your words have no credibility. "If a man says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar" (1 John 4:20). Paul's love believed all things, endured all things, hoped all things (1 Corinthians 13:7).
Christ died for all, "that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15). Selfishness has no place in God's plan. Whoever seeks his own glory leads a barren life.
Paul could say with authority "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20) and "Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1), because God was a witness to how he served him and how he loved, even when he was loved less (2 Corinthians 12:15).

Key Takeaways

Paul did not found churches in order to forget them: he visited them, wrote to them and prayed for them, even from prison.
Checking in, visiting, calling: those who are forgotten feel it in their heart, even if we do not realize it.
Paul gave thanks even for the Corinthians who criticized him, without giving up on dealing with sin head-on.
A pastor's heart is not made of stone: seeing people turn away hurts, as it did Paul with the Galatians.
The witness who matters is God: he sees how you serve him and how you love your neighbor.

Personal Application

Which brother, sister or church have you let fall into oblivion, and whom could you visit or call this week?
For whom do you give thanks to God in your prayers, and for whom do you never do so?
How do you react toward those who criticize you or question the way you serve?
Have you ever felt that you worked in vain for someone? What does Paul's example tell you about that pain?
If God were the only witness of your service and of your love for your neighbor, what would he see of your motives?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a pastor's heart, according to the example of the apostle Paul?

For Rafa Alberola, it is a heart that does not found a church only to forget it afterward. Paul goes back to visit the brothers and sisters (Acts 15:36), writes to them when he cannot come, prays for them and thanks God for their faith, their love and their hope, even from prison.

Why does Paul give thanks for the Corinthians and not for the Galatians?

The Corinthians criticized him, but Paul gave thanks for the grace of God that had been given them, and their sorrow led them to repentance. The Galatians, on the other hand, were turning to another gospel: Paul confronts them and even says he is afraid he has labored for them in vain (Galatians 4:11).

What does "God is my witness" mean in Romans 1:9?

Paul does not call on a human being as his witness; he calls on God, who knows thoughts and intentions. The preacher sees in this a transparent heart, without hypocrisy or self-interest, that seeks God's approval rather than that of people.