As a young man starting out in ministry, I assumed that my fire and zeal would always be the same, that fruitfulness in ministry would just happen, and that I would finish. Twenty years later, I’m asking, what’s it going to take for me to finish well?

I’ve been through hardships and endured suffering. I’ve seen churches grow quickly and fall apart just as fast. I’ve watched men burn out and witnessed others melt their lives and ministry down due to moral failings or abuse of power. I can’t help but wonder, why are so many brothers failing to finish the race?

We start, but not all of us sustain. So how do we change that? I believe that the legacy of your ministry, your church, and our network depends on us being, becoming, and building faithful finishers.

Click on the video below to watch this main session teaching at the Acts 29 Advance Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, where Brian Key identifies seven ingredients of a faithful finisher. He encourages pastors to be faithful finishers who model the character of Christ, as they proclaim the gospel of Christ, to the glory of Christ.

Brian Key
Written by: Brian Key on April 4, 2023

Brian is the professor of Urban Ministry, Church Residency and Coaching Coordinator at Grimké Seminary. Before Grimké, Brian was a pastor at Redeemer Fellowship in Kansas City, MO, where he led the preaching team as well as a two-year residency program designed to train high-capacity, deep character, ethnic minority pastors and church planters to serve in the urban context. He has 16 years of urban ministry experience and is passionate about developing leaders to advance the gospel in that context. Brian and his wife, Kelly, have three daughters.

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