After his family moved to the U.S. from Cuba in 2009, Gilberto Corredera eventually found a job at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. The ministry leader, who had planted churches in Cuba, started as a dishwasher in the church’s kitchen. His family’s first year in the U.S., he said, was a year spent crying, praying and asking the Lord why He had brought them here.
But God was faithful, Corredera said during his pastoral talk on the spiritual fruit of faithfulness. And the overflow of God’s faithfulness in the life of a believer is the believer’s own faithfulness to do what God has called them to do.
Corredera has been part of Prestonwood’s pastoral staff since 2010. He leads Prestonwood en Español, which comprises 3,000 members across three campuses and reaches people in 59 countries through a weekly television program.
‘He wants our faithfulness’
Speaking in New Orleans, he used the life of Moses to illustrate the challenges leaders face and God’s faithfulness amid the obstacles. Moses had his own fears and doubts about the mission God gave him, Corredera noted, and he also faced controversy and rebellion from his family and the people God told him to lead.
“Everything in ministry is hard,” Corredera said. “Do you know why? Because God doesn’t want your ability, my ability. He wants our faithfulness. And the only thing that we need to do is hold it together.”
‘He will cover the gap’
Corredera gave pastors two keys to living faithfully. The first, he said, is spending more time with our faithful God. The second, he said, is to be in community with true friends who can ask difficult questions, pray for you and who fight with you when you’re tempted.
Throughout his message, Corredera encouraged pastors with the truth he’s seen in his own life: “When your assignment looks bigger than your ability, the only thing that God requires of you is faithfulness. He will cover the gap.”
To view more photos from Corredera’s talk, click here.
