Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

All of us are in this room because we believe God has called us to a life of leadership.

I believe everyone has a role to play when it comes to forming good principles in our life that reflect good leadership.

I believe even the smallest roles of leadership matter.

Whether you are leading a country or just leading your small family, it matters.

It matters to God.

Why does it matter to him?

Because he has invested in us so that we may invest in others.

Andy Stanley says it best.

All leadership is stewardship and all stewardship is leadership.

So how can we insure that we are being good stewards of the leadership that God has given us.

Today I want to do two things.

The first thing I want to do is to look at the infastructure and foundation God has given us when it comes to leadership, imparticular in church leadership.

In other words, what does the Bible say about leadrship.

The second thing we will do is look at how we can apply those truths in our ministry or future ministries.

I am continually learning what it looks like to be a leader.

I have been around church leaderhship for 30 years now and I am still learning things it seems weekly.

There are traits that I have that make me a great leader and there are traits I have that hurt me as a leader.

We should continually evaluate this areas and push to be more like the leader God would have us to be.

Leaders are nothing without first being lead by God.

ILLUSTRATION WITH WATER BOTTLE

The source of all leadership begins and ends with God.

He establishes what it means to be a good leader.

Two passages that I love that speak to this is found in Paul’s letters.

The first one, we will not turn there, but it is when Paul is speaking of marriage to the church in Corinth.

He tells the husbands to look to who as their model of leadership?

To Christ, and more importantly the way that Christ loved the church.

Now let me ask this, is anyone in here Jesus Christ?

No? I didnt think so.

I want to establish this because we know that Jesus is far greater and far more worthy than any of us.

So if Jesus practices humility and love in His leadership, then how much more should we?

My favorite passage in Scripture is this is what t says.

(NASB95)

1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Verses 6-8 are the key verses I want to focus on.

Jesus showed the first step for anyone in leadership and it has to be submission to the one and only leader, God.

Now, Jesus is God, but he gave up certain priviledges in submission to God the Father.

Let me explain.

Verse 6 tells us that Jesus was God and he existed in the form of God.

Genesis and tell us that Jesus was eternally present.

So he left all that he had in heaven.

All the glory and the comfort of heaven to empty himself in submission to God.

He did not hold on to the priviledges of being fully God but submitted to God the father and even submitted unto death on a cross.

Leaders are human

Think about some of the first great leaders in scripture.

There was Abraham who started an entire nation of people.

Joseph lead an entire country after being thrown in a pit and in prison.

And of course there was Moses, who lead the nation of Israel out of slavery in egypt.

You know what is incredible about all of these leaders and the rest of the leaders in scripture.

They were regular people like you and I.

They were not born with a superman logo on their chest.

They had many faults.

Abraham seemed to always fall into people pleasing and often allowed others to lead him rather than leading himself.

Moses had an anger problem and was short tempered, he also wasnt a great speaker, yet God used him to lead the nation of israel out of slavery in egypt.

Peter was the first leader of the early church, but Peter struggled as well.

He even denied Jesus three times.

You may be sitting here today and you may be saying that you arent able to be a good leader?

While there are certainly qualifications to being a leader in the church, I promise you one thing.

God’s grace is sufficient enough to make to worst of sinners into the best of leaders.

All leaders are human and subject to sin and failure.

That is why we must lean on God.

I believe God chose to use the leaders in scripture for a reason.

So that we could see that WE NEED HIM.

When we are training to become leaders and we are training leaders.

We must remember that we are all human in need of help from God.

David was the greatest king of Israel.

He was human though and failed many times.

But God continued to use him and God continued to restore him.

Why?

Because David new that His help came from the Lord and he kept the attitude that He was nothing without God.

This is what he writes after his affair with Bathsheba in

(NASB95)

1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.

May we always keep this attitude and look to God to create a clean heart in each of us.

Leadership will be lonely at times

I know this truth well.

Sometimes being a good leader will mean that you don’t make the popular decisions, or that you are not always liked.

So many times in scripture, Jesus says things and makes decisions that infuriate people and divide crowds.

I am not saying good leaders go around and look for opportunities to make people angry.

We should be known as peace makers.

But I am saying, as ministers, we will find ourselves in situations at times that arent popular or easy.

People will abandon you when those times come.

How do I know this?

First we saw it with Jesus.

He was abandoned by His friends.

He took the difficult path and did what no one else could do and he was deserted.

Even after He died, all those he had been discipling were in hiding.