Who cares about the poor? There's no doubt that there are many organizations in the world that take care of the poor. A majority of those organizations are Christian. But when it comes down to the individual Christian, what is our responsibility to the poor? Do we have an individual obligation to the poor? We will take a close look into the teachings of Jesus on this subject. If you are a follower of Jesus, then there is a powerful teaching of Jesus about your obligation to the poor in your own community. Let Jesus challenge your heart as you listen to this message.
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40 NIV)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
If I Really Knew God My Knees Would Bend
SOGGY VIDEO: If I Really Knew God My Knees Would Bend
WATCH A VIDEO MESSAGE FROM DAVE ELSHAUG:
WATCH A VIDEO MESSAGE FROM DAVE ELSHAUG:
Mysterious Ways: God's Holy Spirit in Us
Bono of U2 Wrote “Mysterious Ways” about how women are a mystery to men. But I’m here to solve the mystery so we can move on to something else. Not long after they released this song, someone wrote “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” Which helped men begin to solve the mystery with Tips like this:
3. A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
2. Women have more imagination than men do. They need it to tell us how wonderful we are.
1. Women have their faults. Men have only two. Everything they say. Everything they do.
MYSTERY SOLVED!
Some people have theorized that “Mysterious Ways” is about the mystery of the Holy Spirit. That may be a stretch, but if you’re a big U2 Fan – you can check out all the interpretations on the Blogosphere! (if you know what that means) There is great mystery to how God works in us and through us. We compel people to believe in Christ and then tell them that Christ is in them. How can that be? How does that work?
We all love a good mystery. Whether it’s an Agatha Cristy novel, or a really good movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Some of you may be big fans of Law and Order, or Numbers, or other mystery shows where you don’t know the answer to the end. One of my wife’s new favorite shows is Mystery Diagnosis, where people who have had symptoms for over 10 years, who have seen every doctor in the book, finally get a correct diagnosis. And there are some weird diseases on that show.
And for us, it is just a weird of a concept to think about the Holy Spirit living in us. That we can somehow Embody the living God!
We also talk about how as believers our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. That God’s Holy Spirit lives inside each of us. How is it possible that God could live inside of me? And why would he want to? Here we are with bodies that are wasting away, and the infinite, all powerful God of the universe chooses to live inside of this? Come On?
Here is a look into the Scriptures: Perhaps we can solve this mystery of what it means to have Christ in Me and in you, and the Holy Spirit in me and in you.
There are many reasons why we find it hard to grasp this concept. For some of us here . . .
It’s a really new concept. You’ve heard of putting your faith in Christ, But having him dwell inside you?
It’s just not your reality. You’ve never experienced a deep change inside.
It’s not your experience. You are looking for a different experience, perhaps for you It’s a faith issue. You just find it too hard to believe.
Some people get the impression that when we talk about God’s Holy Spirit living in us that something wacky like this will happen. That he will somehow force us to do something we don’t want to do. Nothing could be farther from the truth. And we’ll be talking more about that very thing later in the message.
Colossians 1:25-27 says that it is “Christ in Us the Hope of Glory”
Here’s what this means. That with Christ living in me, and in you: This reality gives us HOPE that God’s glory can shine through us! That Christ in us brings Glory to God. The Next two verses in Colossians 1 give us this answer: Colossians 1:28-29 say that “His Energy, Powerfully works in me, To present everyone perfect in Christ.”
Think about this: Jesus was sinless. He always said “Yes” to God, and in everything he did, God received glory. And God’s Glory was revealed to the world. He never said “No” to God. He always did what the Father told him to do. And he always said “NO” to the flesh. If there were things he wanted and desired, or was tempted to feed his flesh, he said “NO”. And because of that God received Glory, and his glory was shown to the world.
So we read, The mystery has been revealed, it is “Christ IN us, the hope of Glory.”
Now that we have believed in Christ, and Have received him into us, we have the one in us who always said “Yes” to God, and “No” to the flesh. And he is living in us! In and of ourselves, we do not give glory to God, or show his Glory to the world. But now we have the one who does living inside us. And we unlock the mystery of how we can bring glory to God and show his Glory to the world.
The reason the church exists is that God wants this power that is at work in each believer, to be at work in each of you! Where does that power come from? His Holy Spirit inside of us. Which is another mystery.
READ JOHN 14:15-17 & 26 Jesus said that he would send the Holy Spirit to be in us. And he will teach us all things. This unstoppable force that has always been and will always be, will reside in you!
Acts Chapter 2 talks about the power of the Holy Spirit started this unstoppable force called the Church on the Day of Pentecost. It was a powerful moment! It was the fulfilling of God’s promise through the Old Testament prophets and the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that The Holy Spirit was coming to Stay, and would fill all believers with that same power, so that they could shine with God’s glory!
So how does that work?
Back in August of 2003 there was a huge blackout in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and all the way to the East Coast. It just so happened at the time that time that we were living in Detroit. Many of you have probably experienced a power outage due to a storm or a blown transformer, but this was ¼ of the United States! Of course we didn’t know how vast it was, only that all our power was down.
The first thing you do when it’s dark and the power is down is you go looking for a flashlight. And as Murphy’s law would have it, when there’s a blackout, and you find your flashlight, one of two things happen – either the batteries are dead, or there are no batteries. In my case, there were no batteries in the flashlight. Frustrating. Next you go to candles. Then dog was all freaked out by candles, but it was all we had to light the house.
And we were a little freaked out. We were in Detroit! No Power, No Batteries. For three days the stores were closed because they didn’t have power either. So we couldn’t even buy batteries. We had this flashlight that was completely useless to us.
So as I was thinking about this mystery of Christ IN us, and this mystery of the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us believers, I got to thinking how this was a lot like a flashlight.
The Flashlight was created to shine a light and provide light in darkness. That’s it’s purpose.
But most of the time when you buy a flashlight in the store, it doesn’t have batteries in it. And if you try to use it without batteries it will not accomplish it’s purpose at all.
So, humor me here, I’m going to use this crude and probably flawed illustration of this Flashlight to illustrate “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” But I hope it will help you understand how this works.
So what do you do? You get Batteries. Now this is like “Christ IN us”. When we do what we’ve been talking about here at K2 for so long, Believe, and put our faith in Christ, He Comes in us. He is the power source to help us bring Glory to God.
This Jesus who always gives glory to God, always said yes to God, always said no to the flesh now lives inside us. But that’s not all. Let’s look at what the Bible says in Ephesians 3, Here Paul again says, this is the reason why we do all that we do “Strengthened with power, filled with power, filled with the fullness of God!” (Ephesians 3:14-19)
Remember before the day of Pentecost, Jesus said, in ACTS 1:7 “And You will receive Power”
You see, the batteries are the Power Source, but they are not the Power. The power is the invisible force inside the battery. It is the electricity that makes the light shine.
But here’s the deal. The Power is not released, until you flip the switch. And once you flip the switch in you flashlight, what happens? The light shines.
Those of you who “believe”, who have put your faith in Christ, those who have recently said, I want to overcome that which is destroying me, and live my life for Christ. The Promise of God is for today, that the Same Holy Spirit that was poured out on the day of Pentecost is the same Holy Spirit that dwells inside every believer. The POWER that started the unstoppable force that is the church, is the same unstoppable force that is inside of you. If you have put your faith in Jesus . . . then the Holy Spirit Dwells in you. Your Body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
But here’s the deal. The Holy Spirit is not going to do anything in you that you don’t allow him to do. Instead, Just like those batteries that are filled with power, dwell inside the flashlight, waiting for someone to flip the switch so that the energy can be released, to allow the light to shine . .
For me it was a Friday night youth service in New York Mills, MN. I finally flipped the switch.
So it is with you and the Holy Spirit. He is waiting for you to consciously flip the switch. He is waiting for you to say, “I’m Ready now,” Release your power in me. And let your power flow through me, so that I can give Glory to God.
Give me your power so that I can live a holy life that pleases God
Give me your power so that I can make the right choices
Give me your power so that I am willing to do whatever you ask me to do
Give me the power so that I can be your voice to a world that needs to hear about your love
Give me your power so that I can die to myself and live unto Christ
Give me your power so that I will go wherever you ask me to go.
Give me the power to know God in a way I have never known him before
Give me the power to bring healing and hope and truth and grace to a world in desperate need
Give me the power to say “Yes” to God, and “No” to sin so that in all things I may be like Jesus and Glorify my Father in Heaven.
If you are ready to flip that switch, just whisper to the Holy Spirit in you and say, “I’m ready now to let your unstoppable glory shine through me”
For some of you long-time believers, you may feel that your batteries are dead, and that it’s been a long time since you have really experienced his power working in you. Now is the time to whisper to the Holy Spirit within you and say, “I’m ready again to let your unstoppable glory shine through me”
For some of you may not have the slightest clue what I’ve written. But you may be tired of the way your life is going right now. I want to tell you that there is new life in Christ. And the very first step is easy, just believe that he is God’s Son, and believe that he died and rose again so that you can be given new life. And for you, all you need to do is whisper to God, “I believe”.
I heard someone on the Radio just this week say, “The Bible is the best self-help book on the planet.” And I couldn’t have disagreed more. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we could have new life and help our selves! It’s our selves that got us into the trouble we were in the first place. The Bible clearly states that the it is He (Christ) that helps us get new life. And it is the Power of the Holy Spirit that works in us to make us new.
You can make a conscious choice, and we flip the switch and instead of doing life our way, we allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to do things his way! Do you know what would happen? His Glory would be revealed everywhere you go!
It may still be a mystery, but the truth is, you can live in his Power!
3. A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
2. Women have more imagination than men do. They need it to tell us how wonderful we are.
1. Women have their faults. Men have only two. Everything they say. Everything they do.
MYSTERY SOLVED!
Some people have theorized that “Mysterious Ways” is about the mystery of the Holy Spirit. That may be a stretch, but if you’re a big U2 Fan – you can check out all the interpretations on the Blogosphere! (if you know what that means) There is great mystery to how God works in us and through us. We compel people to believe in Christ and then tell them that Christ is in them. How can that be? How does that work?
We all love a good mystery. Whether it’s an Agatha Cristy novel, or a really good movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Some of you may be big fans of Law and Order, or Numbers, or other mystery shows where you don’t know the answer to the end. One of my wife’s new favorite shows is Mystery Diagnosis, where people who have had symptoms for over 10 years, who have seen every doctor in the book, finally get a correct diagnosis. And there are some weird diseases on that show.
And for us, it is just a weird of a concept to think about the Holy Spirit living in us. That we can somehow Embody the living God!
We also talk about how as believers our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. That God’s Holy Spirit lives inside each of us. How is it possible that God could live inside of me? And why would he want to? Here we are with bodies that are wasting away, and the infinite, all powerful God of the universe chooses to live inside of this? Come On?
Here is a look into the Scriptures: Perhaps we can solve this mystery of what it means to have Christ in Me and in you, and the Holy Spirit in me and in you.
There are many reasons why we find it hard to grasp this concept. For some of us here . . .
It’s a really new concept. You’ve heard of putting your faith in Christ, But having him dwell inside you?
It’s just not your reality. You’ve never experienced a deep change inside.
It’s not your experience. You are looking for a different experience, perhaps for you It’s a faith issue. You just find it too hard to believe.
Some people get the impression that when we talk about God’s Holy Spirit living in us that something wacky like this will happen. That he will somehow force us to do something we don’t want to do. Nothing could be farther from the truth. And we’ll be talking more about that very thing later in the message.
Colossians 1:25-27 says that it is “Christ in Us the Hope of Glory”
Here’s what this means. That with Christ living in me, and in you: This reality gives us HOPE that God’s glory can shine through us! That Christ in us brings Glory to God. The Next two verses in Colossians 1 give us this answer: Colossians 1:28-29 say that “His Energy, Powerfully works in me, To present everyone perfect in Christ.”
Think about this: Jesus was sinless. He always said “Yes” to God, and in everything he did, God received glory. And God’s Glory was revealed to the world. He never said “No” to God. He always did what the Father told him to do. And he always said “NO” to the flesh. If there were things he wanted and desired, or was tempted to feed his flesh, he said “NO”. And because of that God received Glory, and his glory was shown to the world.
So we read, The mystery has been revealed, it is “Christ IN us, the hope of Glory.”
Now that we have believed in Christ, and Have received him into us, we have the one in us who always said “Yes” to God, and “No” to the flesh. And he is living in us! In and of ourselves, we do not give glory to God, or show his Glory to the world. But now we have the one who does living inside us. And we unlock the mystery of how we can bring glory to God and show his Glory to the world.
The reason the church exists is that God wants this power that is at work in each believer, to be at work in each of you! Where does that power come from? His Holy Spirit inside of us. Which is another mystery.
READ JOHN 14:15-17 & 26 Jesus said that he would send the Holy Spirit to be in us. And he will teach us all things. This unstoppable force that has always been and will always be, will reside in you!
Acts Chapter 2 talks about the power of the Holy Spirit started this unstoppable force called the Church on the Day of Pentecost. It was a powerful moment! It was the fulfilling of God’s promise through the Old Testament prophets and the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that The Holy Spirit was coming to Stay, and would fill all believers with that same power, so that they could shine with God’s glory!
So how does that work?
Back in August of 2003 there was a huge blackout in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and all the way to the East Coast. It just so happened at the time that time that we were living in Detroit. Many of you have probably experienced a power outage due to a storm or a blown transformer, but this was ¼ of the United States! Of course we didn’t know how vast it was, only that all our power was down.
The first thing you do when it’s dark and the power is down is you go looking for a flashlight. And as Murphy’s law would have it, when there’s a blackout, and you find your flashlight, one of two things happen – either the batteries are dead, or there are no batteries. In my case, there were no batteries in the flashlight. Frustrating. Next you go to candles. Then dog was all freaked out by candles, but it was all we had to light the house.
And we were a little freaked out. We were in Detroit! No Power, No Batteries. For three days the stores were closed because they didn’t have power either. So we couldn’t even buy batteries. We had this flashlight that was completely useless to us.
So as I was thinking about this mystery of Christ IN us, and this mystery of the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us believers, I got to thinking how this was a lot like a flashlight.
The Flashlight was created to shine a light and provide light in darkness. That’s it’s purpose.
But most of the time when you buy a flashlight in the store, it doesn’t have batteries in it. And if you try to use it without batteries it will not accomplish it’s purpose at all.
So, humor me here, I’m going to use this crude and probably flawed illustration of this Flashlight to illustrate “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” But I hope it will help you understand how this works.
So what do you do? You get Batteries. Now this is like “Christ IN us”. When we do what we’ve been talking about here at K2 for so long, Believe, and put our faith in Christ, He Comes in us. He is the power source to help us bring Glory to God.
This Jesus who always gives glory to God, always said yes to God, always said no to the flesh now lives inside us. But that’s not all. Let’s look at what the Bible says in Ephesians 3, Here Paul again says, this is the reason why we do all that we do “Strengthened with power, filled with power, filled with the fullness of God!” (Ephesians 3:14-19)
Remember before the day of Pentecost, Jesus said, in ACTS 1:7 “And You will receive Power”
You see, the batteries are the Power Source, but they are not the Power. The power is the invisible force inside the battery. It is the electricity that makes the light shine.
But here’s the deal. The Power is not released, until you flip the switch. And once you flip the switch in you flashlight, what happens? The light shines.
Those of you who “believe”, who have put your faith in Christ, those who have recently said, I want to overcome that which is destroying me, and live my life for Christ. The Promise of God is for today, that the Same Holy Spirit that was poured out on the day of Pentecost is the same Holy Spirit that dwells inside every believer. The POWER that started the unstoppable force that is the church, is the same unstoppable force that is inside of you. If you have put your faith in Jesus . . . then the Holy Spirit Dwells in you. Your Body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
But here’s the deal. The Holy Spirit is not going to do anything in you that you don’t allow him to do. Instead, Just like those batteries that are filled with power, dwell inside the flashlight, waiting for someone to flip the switch so that the energy can be released, to allow the light to shine . .
For me it was a Friday night youth service in New York Mills, MN. I finally flipped the switch.
So it is with you and the Holy Spirit. He is waiting for you to consciously flip the switch. He is waiting for you to say, “I’m Ready now,” Release your power in me. And let your power flow through me, so that I can give Glory to God.
Give me your power so that I can live a holy life that pleases God
Give me your power so that I can make the right choices
Give me your power so that I am willing to do whatever you ask me to do
Give me the power so that I can be your voice to a world that needs to hear about your love
Give me your power so that I can die to myself and live unto Christ
Give me your power so that I will go wherever you ask me to go.
Give me the power to know God in a way I have never known him before
Give me the power to bring healing and hope and truth and grace to a world in desperate need
Give me the power to say “Yes” to God, and “No” to sin so that in all things I may be like Jesus and Glorify my Father in Heaven.
If you are ready to flip that switch, just whisper to the Holy Spirit in you and say, “I’m ready now to let your unstoppable glory shine through me”
For some of you long-time believers, you may feel that your batteries are dead, and that it’s been a long time since you have really experienced his power working in you. Now is the time to whisper to the Holy Spirit within you and say, “I’m ready again to let your unstoppable glory shine through me”
For some of you may not have the slightest clue what I’ve written. But you may be tired of the way your life is going right now. I want to tell you that there is new life in Christ. And the very first step is easy, just believe that he is God’s Son, and believe that he died and rose again so that you can be given new life. And for you, all you need to do is whisper to God, “I believe”.
I heard someone on the Radio just this week say, “The Bible is the best self-help book on the planet.” And I couldn’t have disagreed more. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we could have new life and help our selves! It’s our selves that got us into the trouble we were in the first place. The Bible clearly states that the it is He (Christ) that helps us get new life. And it is the Power of the Holy Spirit that works in us to make us new.
You can make a conscious choice, and we flip the switch and instead of doing life our way, we allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to do things his way! Do you know what would happen? His Glory would be revealed everywhere you go!
It may still be a mystery, but the truth is, you can live in his Power!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Perseverance: Going FWD when you want to give up
After moving to Utah, I knew I was going to face an endurance test like none other – Getting a Utah Driver’s License
First Time I went, I thought, “I’ll go early, 7:30, they open at 9:00” and I have a 10:30 appointment.
I get there at 7:30 and the parking lot is full and there’s a line of people from the front door to the back of the parking lot. People in the front of the line are in sleeping bags, cooking breakfast over a fire. Are they selling tickets to a rock concert? Do these people know something I don’t know?
I realize I’ll never make my 10:30, so I decide to come back another day.
Next time I bring my wife. Misery loves company. Mid-Morning we show up, line out the door.
We stand and line and fill out paperwork and finally get to the desk. “Here’s your number, take a seat”
We go and sit down. You can’t leave – cuz if you do, you’ll lose your spot.
I watch employees at the wrap around desk, taking what seems like hours with each customer. When they get done, they slowly walk a piece of paper across to someone on the other side of the room and drop it off. Then slowly walk back and call the next number.
An hour goes by. Still watching, still waiting. Two hours goes by, our numbers are close, but time moves so slowly. Finally after 3 hours they call my number. I go to the desk, get the proper paperwork, “yes” I’m ready to get my picture taken and get out of here! “NO”!!! I have to take my paperwork across the room to another guy. He slowly looks over it, gives me an eye test, and hands me a book. A BOOK!
He then he tells me, go to the other side of the room where you’ll take an open book test on a computer. HOLD ON! I’ve been staring at the worlds slowest employees for three hours when I could have been prepping for a TEST! OPEN BOOK! When I was in college, I had some open book tests. The nice thing about those tests was that I had ACCESS to the books prior to the test, so that I could study for the TEST.
Now I’m sitting in front of a computer, with a 75 page book I’ve never seen before, being asked questions on a timed-test. “If you take too long it shuts down”! 3 of the questions were about how pedestrians should behave. I’M HERE TO GET A UTAH DRIVER’S LICENSE! There’s no pedestrian license. So for all of you PEDESTRIANS who don’t have a DRIVER’S license, I’d suggest you go down there and brush up on the pedestrian laws, ‘cuz there’s a whole bunch of them!
Then I get a question about what a person with a NATIONAL DRIVER”S license can do. Again, I’M here for a UTAH driver’s license. I didn’t even know a National Driver’s license existed. Now I want one!
At this time, I’m sweating bullets. Am I going to time out? Am I going to fail? The last time I took Driver’s Ed was 25 years ago! The guy next to me can barely speak English, and tells the picture dude, “I failed again”. “What do I do.” He tells the guy he has to wait 48 hours and come back. COME BACK! Oh, I can’t fail this test. That would mean I have to come back!
After 31/2 hours, it’s now mid-afternoon and I’m starving, ,my blood sugar’s tanking, my brow is sweating, I’m agitated because I’ve been in close quarters with 400 strangers all day, and my wife’s on a terminal down the row taunting me that she is going to get a better score than me. And I STILL can’t find the section on National Driver’s licenses! AHHHHHH!
I passed, one wrong, got my picture taken, got out of that place, and hope I never have to go back. Perseverance never gives up!
2 Peter 1:1-11 (NIV) 1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Before we tackle this subject, let’s define PERSEVERANCE. The Greek word Hupomone means Steadfast, Persevere, Patience. Patience is Bearing all trials and difficulties with an even mind, enduring in all, and persevering through all. Hupomonē never means simply the ability to sit down and bear things but the ability to rise up and conquer them.
Hupomone describes that spirit which remains under (hupo = under + meno = remain) trials in a God-honoring way so as to learn the lesson they are sent to teach, rather than attempt to get out from under them in an effort to be relieved of their pressure. It’s different than Patience (which is passive) Just Waiting for something to happen. Perseverance looks at any trial it faces and say “bring it on” I can endure anything! Any challenge you put in front of me, I will take on, work through, and never quit until I break through the other side.
Perseverance is the runner who finishes the race, even through pain, or after falling down, because they are fixed on the finish line. Perseverance always says “I can make it”, “I will finish the race”, “I will put my hope in God”, “I will never, ever, ever give up”
2 Peter 1 reminds us that because the Divine Power that comes through the Resurrection of Jesus has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness, then we must make EVERY EFFORT to add to our faith PERSEVERANCE.
Sure, you can have perseverance in life without God, but when you ADD perseverance to your FAITH, something amazing happens.
Look at James 1:2-4 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
So where do we get this PERSEVERANCE that can make us mature and complete? You come to the one who is gives you everything – Jesus, and he gives you perseverance.
Hebrews 12:1-3 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
If you have put your faith in Christ, he is living in you! The ONE who ENDURED the Cross – LOOK at Him. Fix your eyes on him, consider him, concentrate on him as if he is the finish line at the end of the race. KNOW that he is living in your heart. And that if HE could persevere through all he suffered, than you can too!
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PERSEVERE? Throw off everything that hinders you! Throw off ALL the sin that entangles you, and RUN! RUN with perseverance! RUN the race marked out for you. Fix your eyes on the finish line. Fix your eyes on Jesus! He is the Author and Perfecter of you Faith! He endured the cross! He scored it’s shame! And winning the victory over suffering, beatings, and crucifixion on the cross, overcame death, God raised him from the dead, and he won the victory for you!
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ADD PERSEVERANCE TO YOUR FAITH?
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO BECOME MATURE AND COMPLETE LACKING NOTHING?
There’s only one way – FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS, and let nothing distract you from the finish line.
In January of 2009 I turned 40. A week later I got really sick. After months of diagnosis, I was getting a medical treatment for an illness. I was supposed to get an IV treatment over a 4-6 hour period. The first day, they nurse gave it to me in 2 hours. I thought I was going to die! As I walked to my car, I felt like I had been hit by a train. I began to drive home, and felt like my entire body was being crushed.
All I could do was to cry out to Jesus. I needed his perseverance in that moment. As far as my body was concerned, I was DONE. Done with this sickness, done with this treatment, Done. I wanted to give up on it all. But then I began to sing a song I hadn’t sung in a long time.
You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel Lord, to give up I'd be a fool, You are my all in all
Jesus, Lamb of God, Worthy is your Name
Taking my sin, my cross, my shame Rising up again I bless Your name
You are my all in all When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup You are my all in all
That was just a day of agony. As I was thinking about perseverance, I was wondering to myself, if I was face with what Jesus was faced with, would I give up? Would I run the other direction? Would I abandon the race?
And if I was true to myself, and the answer was “Yes”, then WHY? There is a reality check in the very next verse:
Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
The writer of Hebrews says, “COME ON”! You think you struggle, you think it’s hard. Have you ever shed your blood for your faith? Have you ever faced death head on for your faith? Have you resisted the temptation to sin with a gun to your head? I don’t think so.
And when I was thinking about how TOUGH it would have to get before I would give in or give up, I was encouraged by the life of Jesus. He was tempted.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Some of you may remember the 1988 Movie called The Last Temptation of Christ. It was a fictional look at what someone thought the last temptations of Jesus would be. And of course, it being Hollywood, the last temptation Jesus had was Sex!
But if we look at the Bible, we can read what the last temptation of Jesus was. And I believe that we can learn something very valuable fro Jesus here.
The last temptation Jesus faced was to Give Up!
You can read the story in Matthew 26:36-46 (Garden of Gethsemene) but I’m just going to summerize it for you today. It’s the night before the Crucifixion, and Jesus knows what’s going to happen.
By his own admission, his soul was overwhelmed to the point of death. v 38
He fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me, yet not as I will, but as you will" He returns to his closest friends who were supposed to be praying and found them SLEEPING! Jesus faced the cross, and was tempted to "Give up", and asking God for a way out.
But after 3 times in prayer, knowing the Father's will he said to his friends, "Rise, let's go!"
You may be ready to give up. You may think it’s time to cash in your chips. But before you do . . .
You should take comfort when you look at the crucified savior, that he persevered through the most horrible pain.
You should find comfort in knowing that Jesus, too, struggled with the temptation to give up. I don’t care who you are, everyone of us sometimes feels like giving up. But you need to remember this, Temptation isn’t Sin – Giving into Temptation is Sin! Remember, Jesus wanted to give up too.
The question for you today is this: Will you accept God's will and DO IT, or will you give up and go with what I think is best?
Perseverance that is ADDED TO OUR FAITH SAYS: "Rise, Let's go!" So what is it that is hindering you from completing this race? Is there something or someone in your way that is keeping you from Christ? Are you hanging on to a sin that is entangling you that you just are not willing to throw off? Is there something that God is hounding you about to give up, and you just won’t give it up? Perhaps you holding on to past hurts and wounds that you keep nursing.
Have you taken your eyes off Jesus and placed them on your trials, struggles, pain, fear?
God has called all believers to a Grand Mission and has given us a grand vision! If we are going to accomplish what he is placing before us, we need to have the Christ-Perseverance inside of us, adding it to our faith!
First Time I went, I thought, “I’ll go early, 7:30, they open at 9:00” and I have a 10:30 appointment.
I get there at 7:30 and the parking lot is full and there’s a line of people from the front door to the back of the parking lot. People in the front of the line are in sleeping bags, cooking breakfast over a fire. Are they selling tickets to a rock concert? Do these people know something I don’t know?
I realize I’ll never make my 10:30, so I decide to come back another day.
Next time I bring my wife. Misery loves company. Mid-Morning we show up, line out the door.
We stand and line and fill out paperwork and finally get to the desk. “Here’s your number, take a seat”
We go and sit down. You can’t leave – cuz if you do, you’ll lose your spot.
I watch employees at the wrap around desk, taking what seems like hours with each customer. When they get done, they slowly walk a piece of paper across to someone on the other side of the room and drop it off. Then slowly walk back and call the next number.
An hour goes by. Still watching, still waiting. Two hours goes by, our numbers are close, but time moves so slowly. Finally after 3 hours they call my number. I go to the desk, get the proper paperwork, “yes” I’m ready to get my picture taken and get out of here! “NO”!!! I have to take my paperwork across the room to another guy. He slowly looks over it, gives me an eye test, and hands me a book. A BOOK!
He then he tells me, go to the other side of the room where you’ll take an open book test on a computer. HOLD ON! I’ve been staring at the worlds slowest employees for three hours when I could have been prepping for a TEST! OPEN BOOK! When I was in college, I had some open book tests. The nice thing about those tests was that I had ACCESS to the books prior to the test, so that I could study for the TEST.
Now I’m sitting in front of a computer, with a 75 page book I’ve never seen before, being asked questions on a timed-test. “If you take too long it shuts down”! 3 of the questions were about how pedestrians should behave. I’M HERE TO GET A UTAH DRIVER’S LICENSE! There’s no pedestrian license. So for all of you PEDESTRIANS who don’t have a DRIVER’S license, I’d suggest you go down there and brush up on the pedestrian laws, ‘cuz there’s a whole bunch of them!
Then I get a question about what a person with a NATIONAL DRIVER”S license can do. Again, I’M here for a UTAH driver’s license. I didn’t even know a National Driver’s license existed. Now I want one!
At this time, I’m sweating bullets. Am I going to time out? Am I going to fail? The last time I took Driver’s Ed was 25 years ago! The guy next to me can barely speak English, and tells the picture dude, “I failed again”. “What do I do.” He tells the guy he has to wait 48 hours and come back. COME BACK! Oh, I can’t fail this test. That would mean I have to come back!
After 31/2 hours, it’s now mid-afternoon and I’m starving, ,my blood sugar’s tanking, my brow is sweating, I’m agitated because I’ve been in close quarters with 400 strangers all day, and my wife’s on a terminal down the row taunting me that she is going to get a better score than me. And I STILL can’t find the section on National Driver’s licenses! AHHHHHH!
I passed, one wrong, got my picture taken, got out of that place, and hope I never have to go back. Perseverance never gives up!
2 Peter 1:1-11 (NIV) 1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Before we tackle this subject, let’s define PERSEVERANCE. The Greek word Hupomone means Steadfast, Persevere, Patience. Patience is Bearing all trials and difficulties with an even mind, enduring in all, and persevering through all. Hupomonē never means simply the ability to sit down and bear things but the ability to rise up and conquer them.
Hupomone describes that spirit which remains under (hupo = under + meno = remain) trials in a God-honoring way so as to learn the lesson they are sent to teach, rather than attempt to get out from under them in an effort to be relieved of their pressure. It’s different than Patience (which is passive) Just Waiting for something to happen. Perseverance looks at any trial it faces and say “bring it on” I can endure anything! Any challenge you put in front of me, I will take on, work through, and never quit until I break through the other side.
Perseverance is the runner who finishes the race, even through pain, or after falling down, because they are fixed on the finish line. Perseverance always says “I can make it”, “I will finish the race”, “I will put my hope in God”, “I will never, ever, ever give up”
2 Peter 1 reminds us that because the Divine Power that comes through the Resurrection of Jesus has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness, then we must make EVERY EFFORT to add to our faith PERSEVERANCE.
Sure, you can have perseverance in life without God, but when you ADD perseverance to your FAITH, something amazing happens.
Look at James 1:2-4 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
So where do we get this PERSEVERANCE that can make us mature and complete? You come to the one who is gives you everything – Jesus, and he gives you perseverance.
Hebrews 12:1-3 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
If you have put your faith in Christ, he is living in you! The ONE who ENDURED the Cross – LOOK at Him. Fix your eyes on him, consider him, concentrate on him as if he is the finish line at the end of the race. KNOW that he is living in your heart. And that if HE could persevere through all he suffered, than you can too!
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PERSEVERE? Throw off everything that hinders you! Throw off ALL the sin that entangles you, and RUN! RUN with perseverance! RUN the race marked out for you. Fix your eyes on the finish line. Fix your eyes on Jesus! He is the Author and Perfecter of you Faith! He endured the cross! He scored it’s shame! And winning the victory over suffering, beatings, and crucifixion on the cross, overcame death, God raised him from the dead, and he won the victory for you!
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ADD PERSEVERANCE TO YOUR FAITH?
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO BECOME MATURE AND COMPLETE LACKING NOTHING?
There’s only one way – FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS, and let nothing distract you from the finish line.
In January of 2009 I turned 40. A week later I got really sick. After months of diagnosis, I was getting a medical treatment for an illness. I was supposed to get an IV treatment over a 4-6 hour period. The first day, they nurse gave it to me in 2 hours. I thought I was going to die! As I walked to my car, I felt like I had been hit by a train. I began to drive home, and felt like my entire body was being crushed.
All I could do was to cry out to Jesus. I needed his perseverance in that moment. As far as my body was concerned, I was DONE. Done with this sickness, done with this treatment, Done. I wanted to give up on it all. But then I began to sing a song I hadn’t sung in a long time.
You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel Lord, to give up I'd be a fool, You are my all in all
Jesus, Lamb of God, Worthy is your Name
Taking my sin, my cross, my shame Rising up again I bless Your name
You are my all in all When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup You are my all in all
That was just a day of agony. As I was thinking about perseverance, I was wondering to myself, if I was face with what Jesus was faced with, would I give up? Would I run the other direction? Would I abandon the race?
And if I was true to myself, and the answer was “Yes”, then WHY? There is a reality check in the very next verse:
Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
The writer of Hebrews says, “COME ON”! You think you struggle, you think it’s hard. Have you ever shed your blood for your faith? Have you ever faced death head on for your faith? Have you resisted the temptation to sin with a gun to your head? I don’t think so.
And when I was thinking about how TOUGH it would have to get before I would give in or give up, I was encouraged by the life of Jesus. He was tempted.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Some of you may remember the 1988 Movie called The Last Temptation of Christ. It was a fictional look at what someone thought the last temptations of Jesus would be. And of course, it being Hollywood, the last temptation Jesus had was Sex!
But if we look at the Bible, we can read what the last temptation of Jesus was. And I believe that we can learn something very valuable fro Jesus here.
The last temptation Jesus faced was to Give Up!
You can read the story in Matthew 26:36-46 (Garden of Gethsemene) but I’m just going to summerize it for you today. It’s the night before the Crucifixion, and Jesus knows what’s going to happen.
By his own admission, his soul was overwhelmed to the point of death. v 38
He fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me, yet not as I will, but as you will" He returns to his closest friends who were supposed to be praying and found them SLEEPING! Jesus faced the cross, and was tempted to "Give up", and asking God for a way out.
But after 3 times in prayer, knowing the Father's will he said to his friends, "Rise, let's go!"
You may be ready to give up. You may think it’s time to cash in your chips. But before you do . . .
You should take comfort when you look at the crucified savior, that he persevered through the most horrible pain.
You should find comfort in knowing that Jesus, too, struggled with the temptation to give up. I don’t care who you are, everyone of us sometimes feels like giving up. But you need to remember this, Temptation isn’t Sin – Giving into Temptation is Sin! Remember, Jesus wanted to give up too.
The question for you today is this: Will you accept God's will and DO IT, or will you give up and go with what I think is best?
Perseverance that is ADDED TO OUR FAITH SAYS: "Rise, Let's go!" So what is it that is hindering you from completing this race? Is there something or someone in your way that is keeping you from Christ? Are you hanging on to a sin that is entangling you that you just are not willing to throw off? Is there something that God is hounding you about to give up, and you just won’t give it up? Perhaps you holding on to past hurts and wounds that you keep nursing.
Have you taken your eyes off Jesus and placed them on your trials, struggles, pain, fear?
God has called all believers to a Grand Mission and has given us a grand vision! If we are going to accomplish what he is placing before us, we need to have the Christ-Perseverance inside of us, adding it to our faith!
Cultivating a Vision for Your Ministry
Cultivating a Vision for Your Ministry
Do you have a vision for your ministry? This article will help you discover how to cultivate and communicate your vision. You will also discover how to captivate others with your vision and clearly define your vision.
What it means to Cultivate a Vision for your ministry:
A gardener looks at a plot of barren ground in the spring. Yet he “sees” what others do not see. The gardener sees the rows of carrots, beets, cabbage and other vegetables. He also sees vines filled with pumpkins, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. The gardener sees all this in a piece of untilled ground. That is Vision. Now begins the cultivating. The gardener tills the soil, buys and plants the seeds in an orderly fashion. Then over time, he waters, fertilizes, weeds and tends to his garden. Every week, the gardener can see the ripened crops even at the early stages of growth. At last, when autumn arrives, that which the Gardener saw in his vision, has become a reality. Because of his proper planning, the garden has produced much fruit. If you want to cultivate a vision for your ministry you must be able to “see” the ministry in it’s completed form, even when it is nothing but a dream. From there, you do what is necessary to bear much fruit.
SCRIPTURAL BASIS:
Habakkuk 2:2 “Write down the revelation (Vision) and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may
run with it.”
Moses (Hebrews 11:23-29) Moses’ Parents had a vision for Moses. Moses had a vision for his own life. A life of disgrace, because he saw him who was invisible and he looked ahead to a greater reward. He listened for God’s instructions and followed them.
Paul (Acts 26:19-20) “So then, King Agrippa, I wan not disobedient to the VISION from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”
Nehemiah is a book about a man with a vision to repair, rebuild and restore. He had a vision to see what once was great, become great again.
DEFINITIONS:
VISION: “The ability to perceive something not actually visible.” Webster’s
MISSION: The special tasks or purposes a person or an organization strives to achieve daily.
CULTIVATING YOUR VISION
Begin with Prayer
Ask God to show you what cannot be seen
Write a list of Needs, Wants, Desires, Dreams
Dream the Biggest Possible dream you can
Think about it all the time
Strategize how you can achieve your vision
COMMUNICATING YOUR VISION – FOLLOW THESE STEPS
STEP 1: Begin at the top – Is this what your Senior Pastor Wants?
STEP 2: Begin at the core – Gather your most loyal people
Share it with them
Ask for their honest feedback
Talk about it often
STEP 3: Begin to share it with other team members
STEP 4: Begin to share it with people of influence in the church (Staff, Board, Ministry Heads)
STEP 5: Begin to share it with the entire congregation (Newsletters, Bulletin, Public Address)
STEP 6: Repeat steps 1-5 over and over and over again
CAPTIVATE OTHERS WITH YOUR VISION
Fulfill your vision in little steps at first
Understand the Law of Multiplication.
Managers think Addition. Visionaries think Multiplication.
Let the little steps take you to bigger steps
Broadcast your small victory
Constantly redefine the “HOW” of your Mission so that you can achieve your vision
CLEARLY DEFINE YOUR VISION
Set Goals and Objectives
Know where you are going, before you begin your journey
“Begin with the end in mind” Stephen Covey
Know who you are
VISION WORKSHEET
Remember: begin with the end in mind.
Look as far into the future as you can. Where do you see your ministry ending up?
How far in the future are you looking? ______________years
# of those attending ________________
Children ______________
Adults ________________
What do the people attending your ministry look like? (age, race, social-economical background, etc.)
# of buildings or rooms you would need ______________________
# of volunteers you would need ________________________
# of paid staff you would need ________________________
Location of your ministry (same or different) ______________________
What are your current needs? (facilities, # of volunteers, # of paid staff, other needs)
What will be your future needs? (facilities, # of volunteers, # of paid staff, other needs)
In ONE year:
In TWO years:
In THREE years:
In FOUR years:
In TEN years:
Write a list of what you want that you currently don’t have:
Write a list of desires that you would like fulfilled:
Now, DREAM BIG. If you had everything you needed to accomplish your vision, where would you be right now?
Do you have a vision for your ministry? This article will help you discover how to cultivate and communicate your vision. You will also discover how to captivate others with your vision and clearly define your vision.
What it means to Cultivate a Vision for your ministry:
A gardener looks at a plot of barren ground in the spring. Yet he “sees” what others do not see. The gardener sees the rows of carrots, beets, cabbage and other vegetables. He also sees vines filled with pumpkins, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. The gardener sees all this in a piece of untilled ground. That is Vision. Now begins the cultivating. The gardener tills the soil, buys and plants the seeds in an orderly fashion. Then over time, he waters, fertilizes, weeds and tends to his garden. Every week, the gardener can see the ripened crops even at the early stages of growth. At last, when autumn arrives, that which the Gardener saw in his vision, has become a reality. Because of his proper planning, the garden has produced much fruit. If you want to cultivate a vision for your ministry you must be able to “see” the ministry in it’s completed form, even when it is nothing but a dream. From there, you do what is necessary to bear much fruit.
SCRIPTURAL BASIS:
Habakkuk 2:2 “Write down the revelation (Vision) and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may
run with it.”
Moses (Hebrews 11:23-29) Moses’ Parents had a vision for Moses. Moses had a vision for his own life. A life of disgrace, because he saw him who was invisible and he looked ahead to a greater reward. He listened for God’s instructions and followed them.
Paul (Acts 26:19-20) “So then, King Agrippa, I wan not disobedient to the VISION from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”
Nehemiah is a book about a man with a vision to repair, rebuild and restore. He had a vision to see what once was great, become great again.
DEFINITIONS:
VISION: “The ability to perceive something not actually visible.” Webster’s
MISSION: The special tasks or purposes a person or an organization strives to achieve daily.
CULTIVATING YOUR VISION
Begin with Prayer
Ask God to show you what cannot be seen
Write a list of Needs, Wants, Desires, Dreams
Dream the Biggest Possible dream you can
Think about it all the time
Strategize how you can achieve your vision
COMMUNICATING YOUR VISION – FOLLOW THESE STEPS
STEP 1: Begin at the top – Is this what your Senior Pastor Wants?
STEP 2: Begin at the core – Gather your most loyal people
Share it with them
Ask for their honest feedback
Talk about it often
STEP 3: Begin to share it with other team members
STEP 4: Begin to share it with people of influence in the church (Staff, Board, Ministry Heads)
STEP 5: Begin to share it with the entire congregation (Newsletters, Bulletin, Public Address)
STEP 6: Repeat steps 1-5 over and over and over again
CAPTIVATE OTHERS WITH YOUR VISION
Fulfill your vision in little steps at first
Understand the Law of Multiplication.
Managers think Addition. Visionaries think Multiplication.
Let the little steps take you to bigger steps
Broadcast your small victory
Constantly redefine the “HOW” of your Mission so that you can achieve your vision
CLEARLY DEFINE YOUR VISION
Set Goals and Objectives
Know where you are going, before you begin your journey
“Begin with the end in mind” Stephen Covey
Know who you are
VISION WORKSHEET
Remember: begin with the end in mind.
Look as far into the future as you can. Where do you see your ministry ending up?
How far in the future are you looking? ______________years
# of those attending ________________
Children ______________
Adults ________________
What do the people attending your ministry look like? (age, race, social-economical background, etc.)
# of buildings or rooms you would need ______________________
# of volunteers you would need ________________________
# of paid staff you would need ________________________
Location of your ministry (same or different) ______________________
What are your current needs? (facilities, # of volunteers, # of paid staff, other needs)
What will be your future needs? (facilities, # of volunteers, # of paid staff, other needs)
In ONE year:
In TWO years:
In THREE years:
In FOUR years:
In TEN years:
Write a list of what you want that you currently don’t have:
Write a list of desires that you would like fulfilled:
Now, DREAM BIG. If you had everything you needed to accomplish your vision, where would you be right now?
Leadership: Building a Ministry Team
Building a Ministry Team (Choosing Leaders & Volunteers)
You can lead a team to victory! The only thing that stands between you and your goals is the strength of your ministry leadership team. These are the ways to accomplish what you want to do with your ministry through the development of leaders. You will discover how to educate, equip, elevate and emancipate others to lead.
DEFINITION OF A MINISTRY TEAM: A group of people you personally ask to help you lead your ministry.
SCRIPTURAL BASIS:
Gideon: (Judges 7): Went from 32,000 to 10,000 to 300 to a mighty army (see vv. 24-25)
David: (2 Samuel 23:8-39) “These are the names of David’s Mighty Men:”
Jesus: (Matthew 10 – this chapter is filled with great leadership instructions and truths)
Paul: (1 Cor. 3:5-9) Apollos, Barnabus, Silas, Mark, Onesimus, Timothy, List (Col. 4:7-18)
PUTTING TOGETHER A TEAM
You Must have a team to succeed, you cannot lead all alone.
Personally ask potential team leaders to be part of your team.
Look among your volunteers first, then your congregation.
UNDERSTANDING THE QUALITIES OF A MINISTRY TEAM LEADER
Passion: This is a desire to serve God and an unquenchable fervor.
Desire for Change: This person does not want to do it the way it was done in the past. He may
have experience, but make sure he is flexible to change and can effect change.
A person of influence: This person has connections in the church. She can gather together a
group of people to accomplish a task. She is well liked and admired by others.
Positive Attitude: This person always sees the bright side of things. He is cheerful and
optimistic.
Faithfulness: This person sticks and stays with an organization or task. She is always willing to
serve in a time of need. She doesn’t complain about serving or seek glory for doing her tasks.
Team Player: This person cares more about the team winning than personal glory. He is a
willing to do things that he may not like to do for the team’s benefit.
Building a Ministry Team (cont.’)
CHOOSING YOUR TEAM:
WARNING: If someone does NOT exhibit any of the qualities, do NOT ask them to
be part of your ministry team.
BE CAREFUL: If a person exhibits only one or two of the above qualities, they may not be candidates for your ministry leadership team. This person may be great to head up
special projects.
POTENTIAL: If a person exhibits three or four of the above qualities, you want them as part of your team, but they need training and direction from you.
POWERFUL: If a person exhibits five or six of the qualities, get them on your team.
You’ll be glad you did.
UNDERSTANDING THE LEVELS OF THOSE IN YOUR MINISTRY:
LEVEL 4 (your average volunteer): Will show up and do only the things you ask. Sometimes will not follow through.
May exhibit none or only one of the qualities
Meet with people on this level one to two times annually.
LEVEL 3 (your above average volunteer): Will always show up and do whatever you ask. Sometimes will surprise you with moments of excellence. May take others with them.
May exhibit 1-2 qualities
Meet with people on this level four to twelve times annually. Give them special projects to test them.
LEVEL 2 (your most excellent volunteer): Will always show up. Will do more than you ask. Will take others with them. Will be open to new ideas.
Will exhibit 3-4 qualities
Meet with people on this level once a month. Touch base with each a couple times a month.
LEVEL 1 (your achieving volunteers and leaders): Will always be there for you. Will go far beyond what you ask. Will take others with him/her. Will come up with his/her own goals, objectives, visions and dreams. Can handle any task given. Will always take on more than they can handle.
Will exhibit 5-6 qualities
Meet with people on this level once a week. Touch base with them often.
Let them lead people on levels 2-4.
Building a Ministry Team (cont.’)
EDUCATE OTHERS TO LEAD
Share with them your mission and vision
Share with them how you see them being a part of the mission and vision
Share with them your goals and objectives.
Share with them your time.
Share with them resources that will help them grow (books, tapes, conferences, workshops).
EQUIP OTHERS TO LEAD
Give them tools they need to accomplish their goals.
Give them a budget they can work with.
Give them specific jobs.
Give them their own goals, objectives, deadlines.
ELEVATING OTHERS TO LEAD
Lift up your vision and mission so that your team knows where you are going
Lift your level of expectation for those at all levels.
Lift people up to new levels of leadership as you see them exhibit more qualities.
Lift your own level of ministry and leadership so that you can take others with you.
EMANCIPATING OTHERS TO LEAD
Let Go of the phrase “we’ve always done it that way.”
Let Go of your grip on your ministry so that others can take hold of it and run with it.
Let Go of your pride that says, “If I don’t do it, it won’t be done right.”
Let Go of your leadership.
Let your Level One and Level Two Leaders lead levels Two, Three, and Four.
You can lead a team to victory! The only thing that stands between you and your goals is the strength of your ministry leadership team. These are the ways to accomplish what you want to do with your ministry through the development of leaders. You will discover how to educate, equip, elevate and emancipate others to lead.
DEFINITION OF A MINISTRY TEAM: A group of people you personally ask to help you lead your ministry.
SCRIPTURAL BASIS:
Gideon: (Judges 7): Went from 32,000 to 10,000 to 300 to a mighty army (see vv. 24-25)
David: (2 Samuel 23:8-39) “These are the names of David’s Mighty Men:”
Jesus: (Matthew 10 – this chapter is filled with great leadership instructions and truths)
Paul: (1 Cor. 3:5-9) Apollos, Barnabus, Silas, Mark, Onesimus, Timothy, List (Col. 4:7-18)
PUTTING TOGETHER A TEAM
You Must have a team to succeed, you cannot lead all alone.
Personally ask potential team leaders to be part of your team.
Look among your volunteers first, then your congregation.
UNDERSTANDING THE QUALITIES OF A MINISTRY TEAM LEADER
Passion: This is a desire to serve God and an unquenchable fervor.
Desire for Change: This person does not want to do it the way it was done in the past. He may
have experience, but make sure he is flexible to change and can effect change.
A person of influence: This person has connections in the church. She can gather together a
group of people to accomplish a task. She is well liked and admired by others.
Positive Attitude: This person always sees the bright side of things. He is cheerful and
optimistic.
Faithfulness: This person sticks and stays with an organization or task. She is always willing to
serve in a time of need. She doesn’t complain about serving or seek glory for doing her tasks.
Team Player: This person cares more about the team winning than personal glory. He is a
willing to do things that he may not like to do for the team’s benefit.
Building a Ministry Team (cont.’)
CHOOSING YOUR TEAM:
WARNING: If someone does NOT exhibit any of the qualities, do NOT ask them to
be part of your ministry team.
BE CAREFUL: If a person exhibits only one or two of the above qualities, they may not be candidates for your ministry leadership team. This person may be great to head up
special projects.
POTENTIAL: If a person exhibits three or four of the above qualities, you want them as part of your team, but they need training and direction from you.
POWERFUL: If a person exhibits five or six of the qualities, get them on your team.
You’ll be glad you did.
UNDERSTANDING THE LEVELS OF THOSE IN YOUR MINISTRY:
LEVEL 4 (your average volunteer): Will show up and do only the things you ask. Sometimes will not follow through.
May exhibit none or only one of the qualities
Meet with people on this level one to two times annually.
LEVEL 3 (your above average volunteer): Will always show up and do whatever you ask. Sometimes will surprise you with moments of excellence. May take others with them.
May exhibit 1-2 qualities
Meet with people on this level four to twelve times annually. Give them special projects to test them.
LEVEL 2 (your most excellent volunteer): Will always show up. Will do more than you ask. Will take others with them. Will be open to new ideas.
Will exhibit 3-4 qualities
Meet with people on this level once a month. Touch base with each a couple times a month.
LEVEL 1 (your achieving volunteers and leaders): Will always be there for you. Will go far beyond what you ask. Will take others with him/her. Will come up with his/her own goals, objectives, visions and dreams. Can handle any task given. Will always take on more than they can handle.
Will exhibit 5-6 qualities
Meet with people on this level once a week. Touch base with them often.
Let them lead people on levels 2-4.
Building a Ministry Team (cont.’)
EDUCATE OTHERS TO LEAD
Share with them your mission and vision
Share with them how you see them being a part of the mission and vision
Share with them your goals and objectives.
Share with them your time.
Share with them resources that will help them grow (books, tapes, conferences, workshops).
EQUIP OTHERS TO LEAD
Give them tools they need to accomplish their goals.
Give them a budget they can work with.
Give them specific jobs.
Give them their own goals, objectives, deadlines.
ELEVATING OTHERS TO LEAD
Lift up your vision and mission so that your team knows where you are going
Lift your level of expectation for those at all levels.
Lift people up to new levels of leadership as you see them exhibit more qualities.
Lift your own level of ministry and leadership so that you can take others with you.
EMANCIPATING OTHERS TO LEAD
Let Go of the phrase “we’ve always done it that way.”
Let Go of your grip on your ministry so that others can take hold of it and run with it.
Let Go of your pride that says, “If I don’t do it, it won’t be done right.”
Let Go of your leadership.
Let your Level One and Level Two Leaders lead levels Two, Three, and Four.
What are Soggy Thoughts?
Today I start blogging. If you're interested, here are my thoughts, Soggy Thoughts. My name is Dave Elshaug (pronounced Dave El-Sog). Back in Middle school my friend Randy Kennedy called me El Soggy Dog. It didn't stick past middle school. Then I joined the staff of K2 The Church. I am part of the management team. There are two Dave's on the team, so one of the guys named me Soggy. It's stuck. So any thoughts I have will be known as Soggy Thoughts.
I currently live in Salt Lake City. More to come in the future!
--Soggy
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