Qualified to Lead
All these were descendants of Asher- heads of families, choice men, brave warriors and outstanding leaders. 1 Chronicles 7:40
Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. They gave toward the work on the temple of God…The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly. 1 Chronicles 29:6-9
The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is just.” 2 Chronicles 12:6
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. Hebrews 13:17
When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves- praise the LORD!Judges 5:2
Leadership in God’s kingdom (the Lord’s modern day church) is vital for the faith, health and direction of His movement! Leadership is also a challenging calling. Leading a group of disciples sounds so simple because disciples generally have an awesome heart…yet often they too are difficult to lead. After all, you are in the church and sometimes you are tough to lead…just like me! The tremendous need for faith, organizational skills, overcoming obstacles and all the potential relationship difficulties can humble the strongest and most talented among us. All this makes the thrill of leadership even more intense and rewarding, if you are willing to stay close to the Lord, pay the price and be humble!
Therefore one must be qualified to lead. In the past few months, as a church, we have wrestled with the vacuum of leadership created by sending out two mission teams in under three months. Literally sending out 33% of our membership with many of them being well-trained tried and tested leaders. Amazingly, our church has still had 16 additions since January 1st and has powerfully grown in the fruits of the Spirit- especially in love and unity. In addition, many are rising up to take on leadership roles to make sure the church is taken care of from a shepherding perspective as well as a spearheading a powerful evangelistic surge. God gave us 118 at service two weeks ago and 117 last week! This past Sunday we had our typical encouraging Bible Talk Leaders meeting for a quick half hour with good news sharing and then a 15 minute lesson on being a “New Creation and New Leadership”. It was fantastic to see the zeal and heart of our awesome leadership group.
Then 15 brothers and sisters stayed for the first meeting of the newly forming “Council of the South”. This “council” will aid in leadership here locally as well as work with Helen and me on plans for the South. Prayerfully as we strive to forcefully advance the gospel we will grow into these new leadership roles. We met for about an hour and talked through the unique challenges of rebuilding then we selected six Bible Talk Leaders for our congregation. The new leaders we selected will be joined by Assistant Bible Talk leaders and today, Sunday May 25, 2014 you will get to meet our new leaders! These were specifically selected due to their example, leadership skills and the heart they have shown the past 20 months. In the near future, we will have several more BT Leaders raised up and leading new Bible Talks. The AMS group will be in BT’s as well and yet will continue to focus on people all over Orlando in Arts, Media and Sports by hosting a monthly (eventually a weekly) AMS Showcase Open-Mic night. Please pray for us to be led by the Spirit as we seek to be godly leaders and then select more future leaders for our congregation. The high standards for leadership in the church can be grueling, yet with spiritual men and women learning, being discipled and continuing to grow- we will become the men and women we must be for the Lord…literally becoming “qualified to lead.”
He stoops down to make us great,
Matt Sullivan
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