Still Looking for
Leaders!
Sermon Notes
October 31, 2010
Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor
(480)
895-8766
Matthew 28:18-20 NRSV
18And
Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded
you. And remember, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.”
2 Timothy 2:15 NRSV
15Do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has
no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
A.
Introduction
1.
a. After last Sunday’s performance
against the Seahawks, our Arizona Cardinals football team is looking for a
leader at the position of quarterback.
Retired future “hall of famer” Kurt Warner is
definitely missed. Presently no one is
getting the job done. First, the coaches
and management gave up on Matt Leinart and let him
go. In anticipation of this they
acquired free agent Derek Anderson and drafted two rookie quarterbacks. They tried
b. My wife is currently watching DACNING
WITH THE STARS. Every
week she texts her vote in for Kurt Warner. I’d like to text him too: “Forget dancing with the little Russian
lady. Come back and throw some passes to
Fitz and let him dance around the defenders!” Alas, that won’t happen. Unlike another popular QB, when Warner says
he’s retired he means it!
c. Of course, the team has other problems
besides the play of the quarterback.
Running backs who fumble and a punt return man who drops the ball and
then fails to just fall on it. First and
ten on your own 19 yard line is better than first and ten for the other team on
your two yard line! No matter how good
your defense plays, five turnovers will kill you. For a football team to do well they need
sound play and leadership from their entire team. To excel and win a championship takes team
work. All the players must be inspired
to play their best. The whole team must take seriously the call for all to be leaders!
2. Today and the Call for
Church Leaders
a.
This is, also, true in the Church. For a Church to be effective all must hear the
call to leadership. It takes a team
effort to make a growing and dynamic Church!
As I reminded us two Sundays ago, 1 Peter 2:9 tells us that every
Christian is a member of the Lord’s “Royal Priesthood.” We are all ministers and leaders.
b.
And Jesus wants all of us to be doing our part. And your leadership is needed for
B.
To be an effective Church, we need
members who WORK.
1. Send us a Super
Leader!
a.
Too often people are waiting for and wanting God to send their
group some great and awesome Super Leader.
They long for the magical appearance of someone who will show them the
way to success. And this is true in the
Church. Too many members pine for some
Mighty Minister or Awesome Lay Person to come and transform their Church! If they just had the “right” leader people
would flock into their Church, volunteer to serve on every committee, and give
so generously that there would be no need to even mention money in
worship! They long for that one leader
who can say the mystical words and now their Church has one or all of these: The biggest Sunday School with classes of at
least twenty people for every age and interest, the biggest youth group, the
biggest choir, best contemporary band, full worship services Sunday morning,
evening and Saturday night, support groups for every human need, a mission
program that receives national praise, a social outreach program that feeds all
the hungry of the city, shelters for the homeless and battered women, a busting
at the seams Preschool, Day Care and Kindergarten, a budget that is always in
the black, and a new membership class of twelve people every Sunday!
b.
The arrival to our Church of some Super Hero who could accomplish
even a tenth of these things would certainly relieve a lot of us of our
responsibility. My
friends that is not how it works 99.99% of the time. The “Greats” of Christian history never just
appear. The great accomplishments
happened because of many people. The
wonderful accomplishments happened because of people just like you and me doing
their part to glorify Jesus and serve His Kingdom. Management expert Peter Drucker
puts it this way: “Stop looking for that
One Great Leader to turn your company around.
You’re not going to find that person.
The real challenge to most organizations today is to achieve
extraordinary things through the leadership they already have!”
2. Ten Low Level Workers
a.
There is a classic business illustration that states what Peter Drucker is saying. A
large corporation had a problem that they just couldn’t seem to solve. The president and vice president had
tried. The technical people and the
management team looked at the problem and could not find a solution. Even expensive outside experts failed. Finally, almost as a joke, the president
called in ten low level workers chosen at random: People from the loading dock, mail room, janitorial
staff, and secretarial pool. The
president told them that they had been chosen because they had demonstrated
some gift for creativity or leadership.
He told them the problem, closed the door, and went back to his
office. Four hours later they emerged
with a workable solution!
b.
Locked with in everybody is tremendous potential. They may not see it. The world may not see it. Think of those first disciples. Many would call them ordinary men, but look
at what they accomplished! Just being
willing to do the job is half the battle!
Beginning is winning! Our Church
has the capability with the people we have to create even more exciting and
dynamic programs. We’re just waiting for
YOU to do your part!
3. Paddy’s Shovel
a.
There was an old Irishman everybody called Paddy. He was one of the men who helped build the
first rail line across the continental
b.
Eternal Life is a gift of God’s grace. However, when you stand some day before Jesus
will you have a “shovel” of service to show or will you be embarrassed by how
little you worked for His Kingdom? Doing
your part and working in some ministry of the Church is often the first
essential needed for an effective Church.
C.
To be an effective Church, we need members
who INVITE others to know Jesus!
1. Peanuts Comic
Strip: Lucy the Evangelist!
a.
In the Peanuts Comic Strip there was a contest at Church. The boy or girl who could bring the most
visitors to Sunday School would get a prize. Linus who fancied
himself as an evangelist did not have much luck. However, his crabby older sister Lucy brought
six kids. The teacher was impressed and
spoke: “Lucy is our best
evangelist. Lucy, how did you get so
many kids to come to Sunday School?” Lucy replied, “I hit them over the head with
my lunch box, and told them I’d do it again if they didn’t come with me to
Sunday School!”
b.
Now there’s a wrong way to witness and invite people to
Church. The Lord does not want us to
coerce people. We know that. We, also, know that Jesus wants us to be
witnesses. Sadly, however, we struggle
with how to share our faith. We don’t
want to scare people away from the Lord.
And we worry too much about sounding corny or embarrassing our self.
2. Open Grave Conversion
a.
Charlie was a recovering alcoholic. He had an interesting conversion
experience. Charlie was walking through
a cemetery in a small
b.
Once again not the best way to witness. Don’t be pushing people into open
graves. Charlie’s intentions were
good. And he is right about this: One of the most effective ways to witness is
to share from your own experience.
Someone shares a concern. Don’t
tell them what to do or that you know just what they are feeling. Listen and then share how when you had a
problem you turned to the Lord in prayer and that helped. Share the blessings you receive in worship or
Sunday School.
One of the most effective ways to invite people to Jesus is to share
with them how much His love and friendship mean to you.
3. Flip
a.
Someone once asked Flip Wilson about his religion. Flip said, “I’m a Jehovah’s Bystander.” The man remarked, “A what? A Jehovah’s Bystander? I never heard of that.” Flip responded, “Well, they wanted me to be a
witness, but I didn’t want to get that involved!”
b.
Sounds like too many of us.
We just hang around the Church as faithful “Jesus’ Bystanders.” What a shame.
We know the Lord. We know His
blessings. We have in our hearts the
best, greatest, Good News of all time.
We know the truths of God that others desperately need to hear. It’s time we tell others about Jesus. It’s time that we invited others to
Church. And yes it’s even time that we
asked someone else to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
D.
Conclusion: Recap
1. To
be an effective Church, we need members who WORK.
2. To
be an effective Church, we need members who INVITE others to know Jesus!
Looking For Leaders!
1. To be an effective Church,
we need members who have VISION!
2. To be an effective Church,
we need members who PRAY.
3. To be an effective Church,
we need members who
WORK.
4. To be an effective Church,
we need members who INVITE
others to know Jesus!
Joel 2:28-29 NIV
28“And
afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your
old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
29Even on my
servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Matthew 6:5-13 NRSV
5“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites;
for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so
that they may be seen by others. Truly I
tell you, they have received their reward.
6But whenever you pray, go into your room
and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who
sees in secret will reward you.
7When you are praying, do not heap up empty
phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of
their many words.
8Do not be like them, for your Father knows
what you need before you ask him.
9Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors.
13And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.”
Matthew 28:18-20 NRSV
18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded
you. And remember, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.”
2 Timothy 2:15 NRSV
15Do your best to present yourself to God
as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly
explaining the word of truth.