Tag Archives: leadership

Sunday – November 17, 2013 Judges 5:1-31 “Sing a Song of Leadership”

Posted on by
Reply

November 17, 2013 – Read the Word on Worship

Sing a Song of Leadership Judges 5 verses 1 to 31 from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

It has been said there are three kinds of people in the world- those who watch, those who make things happen, and those who scratch their heads and ask what just happened. The ability to make things happen is the gift of leadership and it is needed in every area of our lives. Our nation needs leaders to guide us forward in an uncertain and ever changing world. The church needs leaders to move the church forward in the mission of proclaiming the gospel which transforms lives. Our homes need learns to pass the truth of the Scriptures to the next generation. Leadership is essential. Yet as important as leadership is, God’s leadership is what is most essential, for apart from Him we can do nothing.
Judges chapter 5 is all about leadership. The lessons of what happens when godly men lead and people follow are the key to seeing victory in the battles we face and God being glorified. Join us this week in our study of the Book of Judges as we “Sing a Song of Leadership:

Word On Worship – November 17, 2013 Download / Print

Judges 5:2-3
 “That the leaders led in Israel, that the people volunteered, bless the Lord! Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! I — to the Lord, I will sing, I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

It has been said there are three kinds of people in the world: those who watch, those who make things happen, and those who scratch their heads and ask what just happened. The ability to make things happen is the gift of leadership and it is needed in every area of our lives. Our nation needs leaders to guide us forward in an uncertain and ever-changing world. The church needs leaders to move the church forward in the mission of proclaiming the gospel that transforms lives. Our homes need leaders to pass the truth of the Scriptures to the next generation. Leadership is essential. Yet as important as leadership is, God’s leadership is what is most essential, for apart from Him we can do nothing.

Our text offers all three of these qualities for us to learn and to understand God intervenes when we act with courageous faith. Deborah turns our attention to four specific tribes who refused to join the fight. The tribe of Rueben lacked the will to join the fight. The people of Gilead thought they were exempt since they lived on the other side of the Jordan. The people of Dan were too busy conducting business to come to their neighbor’s aid. And the people of Asher were simply unwilling to leave their homes.

On the other hand we have Barak and the men of Zebulon and Naphtali who went to war and fought the battle. Deborah begins with the commendation for the people of God who did step up, both the leaders and the volunteers. The battle plans God had given them through the prophetess Deborah made little sense, militarily speaking. But they did not trust in their own strength or numbers, they trusted in the Lord and His promises. This entire chapter focuses our attention on God’s glorious power and the praise that should flow from His people. When leaders lead, it inspires people to follow them, to the glory of God.

We must choose whether we will serve the Lord and His people. It is so easy to be passive, lazy, busy or distracted, yet the honor goes to those churches and individuals who are faithful to the Lord. Although the gates of Hades will not prevail against the Church universal, thousands of American churches close their doors every year. There is no guarantee that any church will remain successful, just as it is with individuals. If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you are good for heaven. But you must ask yourself, are you good for earth? Deborah’s song could have been sung in Barak’s honor, but instead the glory went to Jael who, when action was required, stepped forward to be counted. How will your song be sung? Will you answer the call or do you already have an excuse for why you could not enter the battle today?

Sunday – October 20, 2013 Judges 1:1 to 2:5 “Living with the Enemy”

Posted on by
Reply

October 20, 2013 – Read the Word on Worship

Judges 1 verse 1 to Judges 2 verse 5 from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

Considering everything going on, or not going on in Washington these days, leadership is a hot topic. Everyone agrees that no one agrees but still someone must lead. Does the Scripture offer us any instruction about leadership and how that should look in a divided nation? As we read the beginning of Judges it is easy to assume the victories of the Book of Joshua will simply continue, but that is not the case. The first chapter of Judges begins with Judah defeating the Canaanites and it ends with the Canaanites overrunning Judah’s lines. Without diving into the details here, God had already told Israel not to worry about the size of the army or the potency of their arsenal. God is not impressed with new technology, God is looking for opportunities to demonstrate His power and might. Join us this Sunday as we look at Children of Israel as they try to possess the land God has promised them in “Recipe For Disaster”.

Word On Worship – October 20, 2013 Download / Print or View the Video

Judges 1:1
“Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord, saying, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”

Considering everything going on, or not going on in Washington these days, leadership is a hot topic. Everyone agrees that no one agrees but still someone must lead. Does the Scripture offer us any instruction about leadership and how that should look in a divided nation? Yes it does, but you have to dig in the dirty book of Judges to find those answers. Just as it is today, in the days of the judges, leadership was still the issue.

I believe the issue of leadership is the key to the book of Judges. Now that the children of Israel are in the land and seeking to control it, leaders must emerge to achieve what God has stated will happen. The successes Israel will have will be found in its leadership and its failures will be highlighted by a lack of leadership. Whenever you go to war someone needs to lead, and God says Judah will lead. And Judah asks Simeon to come along. But is this a Deborah and Barak moment, where one requires the other to join them or they are not going to press the initiative? Are we afraid to take the initiative in a ministry because we need someone else to come along with us?

As we read the beginning of Judges it is easy to assume the victories of the Book of Joshua will simply continue, but that is not the case. The first chapter of Judges begins with Judah defeating the Canaanites and it ends with the Canaanites overrunning Judah’s lines. Without diving into the details here, God had already told Israel not to worry about the size of the army or the potency of their arsenal. God is not impressed with new technology, whether it is iron chariots or ICBM missiles. God is looking for opportunities to demonstrate His power and might.

It is possible that in present times we have placed our trust in systems and technology rather than in God — and that is not a good thing. When our trust has been placed in feasibility studies rather than the power of God, our plans will all fail. If you could do church the way a business functions, where would God’s fingerprints be? How many times have you said “I would have entered that area of service,” but you did not think you had the right personality? Did you not have enough money? Did you not have the right platform to speak from? Have you ever wondered about the excuses we all have offered up for our own failure to engage in the business to which God has called us? You have been called to a Godly task. And He has promised that if you do His will, the task will be accomplished. So what excuse do you have that will trump the will of God for your life?

Sunday – December 2, 2012

Posted on by
Reply

December 2, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Leading Jesus Style from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

Christ’s humility was evident from His perfect obedience to authority and will of His Father. Anyone can claim to be a servant, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was treated as one and never complained about it. Jesus Christ, the most powerful man to ever walk the face of the earth, was also the most humble man who ever lived. His agenda was never to promote Himself, but to please His Father by loving and serving others. For all who seek to follow in His example, our first call is to imitate His humility. In order to do that we are going to need to learn to lead Jesus way. Join us this Sunday as we return to Mark 9 verses 30 to 50 and find application for Jesus leadership style in our lives today.

Word On Worship – December 2, 2012 Download / Print

Mark 9:35-37
“Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Woody Allen once said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” The corollary to that statement would be, “If you want to make God laugh louder, tell Him what you know.” Just because it is true does not make it any easier to accept. It is hard to admit we do not know as much as we think we know and we certainly are not in control as much as we would like to think. It is humbling to recognize God is more responsible for the achievements in our lives than we are. Our achievements are not our possession; they are gifts from God for which we will give an account for what we have been given.

Everything in us strains against this because to accept this as fact is to be humbled.  And humility leads to submission. We don’t want to admit God is the giver of every good gift because that would mean that we have to yield to his agenda. Humility and submission are two sides of the same coin. Humility is certainly not natural, so this is another reason we need to learn from the Scriptures. It is only from the Word of God that we gain insight to become the kind of leaders God desires and our world so desperately needs.

The best example of humility is our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus never clung to the outer manifestation of His divinity. Instead, He took the form of a servant. A servant is often taken for granted, overlooked and unnoticed. Our culture has trained us well in the art of assertiveness. On the contrary, humility comes from a disciplined strength which gives us the ability to serve others rather than manipulate them to have our needs met. Because of our identify in Christ, we can serve without being noticed by human eyes, knowing the One we serve always sees and has promised our reward in eternity.

Christ’s humility was evident from His perfect obedience to the authority and will of His Father. Anyone can claim to be a servant, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was treated as a servant and never complained about it. Jesus Christ, the most powerful man to ever walk the face of the earth, was also the most humble man who ever lived. His agenda was never to promote Himself, but to please His Father by loving and serving others. For all who seek to follow in His example, our first call is to imitate His humility.

Sunday – November 25, 2012

Posted on by
Reply

November 25, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Can We Franchise the Church? from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

The disciples, as do many church leaders today, have an over inflated view of leadership. They want to lead so others will serve them. So as the disciples argue with the teachers of the law over their failure to cast out a demon earlier, they have no problem chastising another who is successfully casting out demons in Jesus name because he was not one of them. They want to control the rights to Jesus name, as if they held exclusive rights to the franchise. This elitist worldview has continued down the centuries and infected generation after generation with pettiness and politics. If Jesus were to ask the leaders of the Church today the same question about which we are arguing, would the silence be any louder than it was with the twelve? Join this week as we continue our study in the Gospel of Mark in the first part of Mark 9 verses 30 to 50.

Word On Worship – November 25, 2012 Download / Print

Mark 9:30-31
“From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”

The ministry of Jesus at this point in Mark’s gospel now shifts from public ministry to a time of intensive training of the twelve. Jesus was never swayed by the adoration of the masses, but now as He turns to Jerusalem one final time, His focus is on these few who will carry the gospel forward to the world. Jesus tells them again His destiny is to be rejected by men who will kill Him but he will be resurrected on the third day. It is here Jesus adds a new detail to His previous statement of suffering: He will be betrayed by one of His own into the hands of men.

They should have been worried about who it will be among them who will betray the Lord of Glory, but instead it becomes a catalyst to debate about who is the greatest. It will continue as they argue with the successful exorcist because he does not follow them. Their need for recognition will also be an issue at the Last Supper as Peter will argue that he will be more faithful than the rest. The picture we are given by Mark is showing Jesus walking ahead to Jerusalem to be sacrificed as the disciples push and shove to establish the order of the procession behind Him.

The disciples, as do many church leaders today, have an over-inflated view of leadership. They want to lead so others will serve them. So as the disciples argue with the teachers of the law over their failure to cast out a demon earlier, they have no problem chastising another who is successfully casting out demons in the name of Jesus because he was not one of them. They want to control the rights to His name, as if they held exclusive rights to the franchise. This elitist worldview has continued down the centuries and infected generation after generation with pettiness and politics. If Jesus were to ask the leaders of the Church today the same question about which we are arguing, would the silence be any louder than it was with the twelve?

The “cult of personality” is alive and well in the church today as it was with the twelve on the road to Jerusalem. How often is the pastor given top billing above Jesus, just as members of the local body seek for their name in the bulletin or church newsletter for their service? Yet our Lord demonstrated His definition of leadership by the cross of Calvary. When leadership is defined by sacrifice, the cross makes sense. The cross is God’s view of leadership. This is the definition of leadership established by Jesus, which He followed to His death. Therefore, any who seek to be leaders must follow Him to the cross to die themselves.