Partakers Christian Podcasts

Partakers Bible Thought - Walking with Jesus 08

Walking with Jesus

8. My Jesus

Today we glimpse together at Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ who we I seek to obey in every facet of life. And it is this Jesus whom I depend upon and personally know to be totally reliable in every way. Is this your Jesus? Come on in to hear more about this WOW about Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:24-26 (New Living Translation)

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Partakers Bible Thought - Walking with Jesus 07

Walking with Jesus

7. Loveliness & Joy

Today we glimpse together at the loveliness and joy of Jesus! Come on in to hear what we say about this WOW about Jesus Christ of Nazareth

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" John 15:9-11 (New Living Translation)

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Partakers Bible Thought - Walking with Jesus 06

Walking with Jesus

6. Strong

Today we glimpse together at the strength of Jesus. Come on in to hear what we say about this WOW about Jesus Christ of Nazareth...

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (New Living Translation)

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Partakers Bible Thought - Walking with Jesus 05

Walking with Jesus

5. Wise

Today we glimpse together at the wisdom of Jesus. Come on in to hear what we say about this WOW about Jesus Christ of Nazareth...

"He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” Matthew 13:54 (NLT)

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Partakers Bible Thought - Walking with Jesus 04

Walking with Jesus

4. Tender

Today we glimpse together at the tenderness of Jesus. Come on in to hear what we say about this WOW about Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

• Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd - Matthew 9:35-36
• As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it - Luke 19:41
• Jesus wept - John 11:35

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Partakers Bible Thought - Walking with Jesus 03

 

Walking with Jesus

3. Majestic

Today we glimpse together at the majesty of Jesus:
Come on in to hear what we say about this WOW about Jesus Christ of Nazareth

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty.
He received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’
We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 2 Peter 1:16-18 (NIV)

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Partakers Bible Thought - Walking with Jesus 02

 

Walking with Jesus

2. Jesus Is Unique

Today we glimpse together at the uniqueness of Jesus... Come on in to see what we say about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ of Nazareth which should cause to go "WOW!"

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Partakers Bible Thought - Walking with Jesus 01

 

Walking with Jesus

1. Introduction

There are many pictures of Jesus, but which one are you walking through life with?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)

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Church Leadership 12 - God and the leadership team

Church Leadership

Session 12:

What can God do with a leadership team

that is totally committed to Him?

Welcome to the final session in this series on Church Leadership. I trust they have all been a blessing to you and helpful as you continue on in your walk with God. I want to end on a positive note and look at what God can do when leadership teams are totally committed to Him and united in their service for the Boss – the Head of the Church.

In the book, The Trellis and the Vine (Marshall and Payne (Matthias Media 2009) – ISBN: 978 1 921441 58 5), the writers compare the work of planting, watering, fertilising and tending the vine to that of Christian ministry. ‘The basic work’, they continue, ‘of any Christian ministry is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of God’s Spirit, and to see people converted, changed and grow to maturity in that gospel’.

However, they also acknowledge the essential need to tend and maintain some sort of framework to help the vine grow. The authors put it this way: ‘as the ministry grows, the trellis also needs attention. Management, finances, infrastructure, organisation, and governance – these all become more important and more complex as the vine grows.’ The book provides a balanced perspective on these two sometimes competing demands on leaders.

Let us be encouraged to keep in mind our ultimate goal – to see men, women and children won to faith in Christ. But at the same time, let’s not forget to tend, repair, watch over and maintain the trellis, or the vine will have nothing to grow on.

Today, in our churches, are we achieving this ultimate goal? Are we, on a regular basis, seeing people converted, changed and grow to maturity in that gospel?

Do those of you who are leaders have a vision of what God, by the power of His Spirit and in the Name of Jesus can achieve in His church in your community?

A Senior Pastor asked his leadership team three questions when they were considering the impact of future growth:

1. Can you see it?

2. Do you want it?

3. Are you prepared to do everything it takes to achieve it?

Powerful questions! Do we have such a vision from the Head of the Church that we are gripped by the prospect of many coming to faith in Christ, that we will go to any lengths to make sure it happens? Of vital importance is that the vision is from God – a “God idea” not just a “good idea”. More than once we read in Acts that, after the church had prayed about a particular matter, “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Incidentally, when was the last time, after you have prayed, “the place where [you] were meeting was shaken. And [you] were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31)?

God gave dominion to the human race and He is longing for us, through redemption and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, to enter once again into that creation purpose. Jesus promises that the power of the Holy Spirit will result in our words having the same authority and wisdom as His own. Just think for a moment of what such a vision means to Jesus. He sees us - His own Body in the future exercising all of this and doing it to a greater extent than He could possibly do in His own human body. So after His resurrection, Jesus commissions the disciples. The promise of Jesus is: 'Your proclamation will be validated by signs and wonders that accompany it.' So those who refuse to believe will have no excuse. They will be condemned. (This raises questions about the nature of our own gospel proclamation in these days – but we don’t have time to discuss that now).

Like the early disciples we are called to go to the ends of the earth and for us, seeing the suffering that there is throughout the world, it is even more imperative than for them, that we should go to the ends of the earth and proclaim the good news of Jesus. Only then will the end come and our Lord return.

We have been placed on this earth to fulfil the destiny that God has for us, that we should exercise His authority and through the exercise of that authority, through His praise and worship and His power in our lives, we should bring down the powers of darkness and see satan's kingdom finally destroyed and the Lord's return set in train.

All this is ours! If that does not produce a 'Wow!' in your spirit then there must be something wrong with you. “Rejoice little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom” – Jesus said (Luke 12:32).

Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus: “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3: 14 – 21)

I can do more that repeat that prayer for you and the churches where you serve.

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Church Leadership 11 - What happens when it all goes wrong?

Church Leadership

Session 11:

What happens when it all goes wrong?

Welcome to session 11 – probably the most difficult of all to deal with. Sadly, there are, all too often, times when things go wrong in church and I want us to think about some of those today. This is never going to be a comprehensive treatise on these matters – but I hope it will be helpful to those leaders going through difficult times and for those in churches where leaders are causing problems.

 

There are two main areas that I want to consider – those where the leader has served to the best of his ability but things have not worked out or illness has been a part of the situation – and those where the leader has not acted in a way that befits their office and thus damaged their calling and brought the Name of Christ into disrepute.

 

I have taken some “case studies” that I have been involved with to illustrate some areas where things have not turned out well – either for the individual or the church concerned.

 

The Minister was struggling. His sermons, while theologically sound, were more like lectures and his pastoral skills were not the best – and the numbers coming to church were shrinking rapidly. But he really believed he had been called to pastoral ministry. I was asked to talk to him and eventually he accepted that, perhaps, he had misheard his calling and ought to look for something else that would use his obvious teaching ability. In due course, he found a post as a lecturer at a university and, the last time I heard, he was doing well. The church was supportive and sent him on his way with their blessing. But this “knocked him for six” and it took a while for him to recover. If it is not working for you as a leader, seek counsel from someone you can trust and don’t be ashamed to say “I got it wrong”. God is in the restoration business!

 

Sometimes a church leader is good at what they do, believe they have a genuine calling to this type of ministry – but the rest of the leadership team don’t see it that way. I was asked to “referee” a dispute between the elders of a church and their pastor. Some of the elders had been in the church for a very long time and were strong characters and they persuaded the rest of the leadership team that the pastor was not “vibrant enough, nor did he have an exciting vision for the future”. In the end, I advised the pastor that it was time to go because once you have lost the trust, confidence and support of the other leaders, it will be impossible to achieve what you want to do in God. This sort of activity grieves the Holy Spirit and hinders the growth of God’s people. Incidentally, that church went through a very lean period for some years – but God used the pastor in significant ministry in other churches. The command of Jesus to “love one another” was aimed at all of us – and applies to leadership teams also. Seek God’s face always – and even more so when the course you seem to be taking looks as if it is not one that the Spirit of God would endorse.

 

It seems to me that stress is more prevalent than it used to be (probably because we didn’t recognise it so clearly back then – we called it a “nervous breakdown”) and “burnout” has become an accepted physical/mental/spiritual condition. Church leaders are not immune from this and I have witnessed the devastating effect that this has had – both in my ‘day job’ and those called to full-time ministry. I am not qualified to discuss the medical details – but I have found a book I have referred to earlier (Freedom to Lead – see session 9) very helpful in this area. A young man was full of enthusiasm for the children’s ministry he was involved in – he worked hard and long and seemed to thrive. He was invited to join the leadership team in his home church, even though most of his ministry was with other churches. Soon he was being asked to do more and more - eventually he succumbed to the pressure and had to come to dead stop and cease doing anything. His family and church were supportive but some others were less so – after all, he had “let them down.” Asking him why this had happened he told me that he thought that, in God, he could do anything and everything – he forgot that he was a frail human being and that he was not superman. He didn’t blame God for this – he now understands the importance of rest, good time management and having the common sense to say “no”. As fellow leaders we need to watch others on the team that they are not getting overburdened and as churches we must not expect too much of our leaders.

 

The devastation that sexual immorality causes to the leader him/herself, to their families, to the church where they lead and to the wider Christian community is enormous– but it is not the only reason why leaders do not maintain the standards expected of them.

 

Sexuality is a powerful force and, when not confined to the marital state, can be devastating, damaging and ‘reputation-killing’. Much has been written about this and I don’t have time to say very much here – but leaders must be always on their guard against this temptation.

 

Then there other addictions that damage the people of God, including leaders, such as gambling, pornography, substance abuse etc.

 

When discovered, or confessed, there must be an acceptance that that leader has “disqualified” him/herself from office and must stand down immediately. With true repentance, counselling and prayer, such a one can be restored to fruitful ministry after a period on the sidelines. Paul said: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1).

 

Let me repeat what I said in session 3: “Most of the saints of old got it wrong from time to time – Abraham lied about Sarah, Noah got drunk, Moses lost his temper, David committed adultery, Elijah was suicidal, Jonah ran away, Thomas doubted, Peter denied Jesus, Paul persecuted Christians – need I go on? The amazing thing is that God forgave them as they repented and He continued to use them. All of us, as leaders, are constantly in need of the grace of God as we battle with sin and failure. Praise Him – He is the God of the second (and third and fourth and fifth etc etc) chance as we submit to Him.”

 

I’m conscious that this has been all too brief and there is so much to be said – but all of us must remain on our guard against the wiles of the devil. Keep short accounts with God, seek help from those you trust and maintain regular devotional times.

 

Today, I’m going to leave you with a prayer (based on Psalm 31) that I used when I and my family went through a very difficult time.

 

• O LORD, we trust in You – may we never be disgraced.
• Save us because You do what is right. Listen to us and save us quickly.
• You are our rock of protection – a strong fortress to protect us. For the honour of Your Name, lead us and guide us.
• Set us free from the trap that has been set for us because You are our protection. We give you our lives. Save us, LORD - You are the God of truth.
• We trust only in the LORD. We will be glad and rejoice in Your love, because You see our suffering and You know our troubles. You have not handed us over to our enemies but have set us in a safe place.
• LORD, have mercy, because we are finding life tough - our eyes are weak from so much crying and we are weary from grief. Our life seems to be full of sadness and our days are spent in crying. Our troubles are sapping our strength – provide strength to our bodies.
• We trust You and we affirm that You are our God. Our lives are in Your hands. Save us from our enemies and from those who are chasing us. Silence their lying lips. Show Your kindness to us – we are Your servants. Save us because of Your love. LORD, we call to You - so do not let us be disgraced.
• How great is Your goodness that You have stored up for us because we fear You - protect us by Your presence from what people plan against us and shelter us from evil words.
• Praise the LORD! His love to us was wonderful when we were being attacked. In our distress, we said: "God cannot see us!" But You heard our prayer when we cried out to You for help.
• We love the LORD, because we belong to Him. The LORD protects us because we truly believe. We put our hope in the LORD and we will be strong and brave.
  
• Amen

 

 

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