It’s the person, not the work
Wednesday Evening Leadership Class
June 17, 1998
Homework:
1) Daily Bible Reading/Study. If you don’t already have a regular reading pattern, then follow with us. Be prepared to share each week whether you’ve had daily Quiet Times, and one thing that ministered to you during the week.
2) Prayer for your ministry. If you do not have a list of the people under your ministry, make one. If you are a Sunday School teacher, then make a list of your students. If you are a Sunday School coordinator, then make a list of your teachers. If you are on the Outreach team, make a list of the team members, and get a copy of the "Salvation Requests" on the weekly prayer list. If you don’t have a ministry yet, then I’ll draft you into mine, and you can get a copy of the directory.
3) Spiritual Leadership assignments from J. Oswald Sanders’ book.
Class introduction
We’re going to be talking about a lot of different aspects of leadership over the next few months. But the one thing I want to convey most, is that the actual ministry you’re involved in, the actual work that you are doing, is not as important as who you are. God’s concept of ministry is that it should flow out of a life that’s close to Him. Even Paul in his letters wrote, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you" (1Cor.11:23). The things he shared to others were things he had first received himself.
The following is an excerpt from E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer; (pgs.11-15). It was written to preachers, but the message is true no matter what ministry we’re in:
"We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men…
What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer…
The character as well as the fortunes of the gospel is committed to the preacher. He makes or mars the message from God to man. The preacher is the golden pipe through which the divine oil flows. The pipe must not only be golden, but open and flawless, that the oil may have a full, unhindered, unwasted flow.
The man makes the preacher. God must make the man. The messenger is, if possible, more than the message. The preacher is more than the sermon. The preacher makes the sermon. As the life-giving milk from the mother’s bosom is but the mother’s life, so all the preacher says is tinctured, impregnated by what the preacher is. The treasure is in earthen vessels, and the taste of the vessel impregnates and may discolor. The man, the whole man, lies behind the sermon. Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life. It takes twenty years to make a sermon, because it takes twenty years to make the man. The true sermon is a thing of life. The sermon grows because the man grows. The sermon is forceful because the man is forceful. The sermon is holy because the man is holy. The sermon is full of the divine unction because the man is full of the divine unction…
The preacher’s sharpest and strongest preaching should be to himself. His most difficult, delicate, laborious, and thorough work must be with himself. The training of the twelve was the great, difficult, and enduring work of Christ. Preachers are not sermon makers, but men makers and saint makers, and he only is well-trained for this business who has made himself a man and a saint. It is not great talents nor great learning nor great preachers that God needs, but men great in holiness, great in faith, great in love, great in fidelity, great for God—men always preaching by holy sermons in the pulpit, by holy lives out of it. These can mold a generation for God…
The real sermon is made in the closet. The man—God’s man—is made in the closet. His life and his profoundest convictions were born in his secret communion with God. The burdened and tearful agony of his spirit, his weightiest and sweetest messages were got when alone with God. Prayer makes the man; prayer makes the preacher; prayer makes the pastor…"
Venture in Faith Video
Part 1 – "Born to Know God"
Before the video –
I think it’s important for us as men and women who want to be used by God, to realize that God has been preparing us, and continues to prepare us for the work that He has for us. A work He has already prepared for us:
(Eph 2:10 KJV) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
As you’re watching the video, think about the question, "What kinds of things did God use to prepare Chuck to be used by the Lord?"
After the video –
Share as a large group, what God used in Chuck’s life to prepare him for his ministry.
Note: We can look at the positive things that God has done in our lives to prepare us, but also desires to use the hurtful things in our lives for ministry as well –
(2 Cor 1:3-4 NLT) All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. {4} He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
Break into small groups.
What kinds of things has God done to prepare you to be used by Him?
Share one prayer request for you personally, one request for your ministry.