Godly Leadership | Phil. 1:1-2 | EXPOSITORY SERMON

I would invite you open your bibles join me now in Philippians chapter 1 we're gonna be looking at just two verses verses 1 and 2 and let me just read those for us real quickly the Apostle Paul begins for us Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus to all the Saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ vince lombardi the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers once said leaders are made they are not born and that is absolutely true biblically and in its it's something that we can prove from Scripture for instance Moses was a murderer with a speech impediment not a leader obviously but God used him to lead Israel out of 400 years plus of bondage from Egypt and as we have just recently seen David was the youngest son of a sheepherder you know he was insignificant and yet God anointed him chose him to go to the throne room become the king of Israel the Apostle Paul who's written the book of Philippians he was responsible for the murder the martyrdom of countless Christians yet God chose him and used him to plant churches throughout the Roman Empire we could certainly go on but I think you get the point leaders aren't born God makes them for his own purposes and for his glory and we see some of the foundational building blocks God uses to make leaders right here in the first two verses of the book of Philippians and here's why these building blocks for leadership are essential to us as a church and as a body of believers if we aspire to become a church United for the sake of the gospel in our community to see our family our neighborhood our community transformed by the gospel then someone has to lead us there someone has to say this is where we're going let's let's all go and it has to be those that God chooses breaks and then molds into the types of leaders that he desires for his church now last Sunday we looked at the overall theme of the book of Philippians and we discovered that all of it it centers on this one truth that we are to unite for the sake of the gospel so that's our target we're never going to lose sight of that goal of being united for the sake of the gospel over the course of this whole preaching for the next few months at least up until the end of the year so this morning we're going to look at four essential qualities of a godly leader and my hope is to enable you one to either be a godly leader this is for the elders that are here in the church but also for those of you that aspire to any form of leadership male-female doesn't matter if you're teaching your part of the praise team that's some form of leadership and so it's for you if you aspire to that then this is for you as well but it's also for all of us as a church because this is what we're praying for this is what we're hoping for and for this one reason we need leaders qualified godly leaders to help us unite for the sake of the gospel so that through us God can transform our community you see we will never experience that word that we learned last Sunday Koinonia that close personal relationship with God and one another unless we have leadership to take us there and as a result will strive like to be like so many churches where we're in competition if we don't get this right if we're not in Koinonia United for the sake of the gospel then well again we'll look at other churches as predatory we'll be in competition with them we'll steal each other sheep rather than going out and sharing the gospel watching him save sinners and then us getting to be a part of disciple omim repeating that process we have to desire something far more demanding than that far more biblical in faith stretching we must have leaders that are going to take us to this place of unity to this place of Koinonia so that we can go out and boldly share the gospel so let's get started as we look at these four qualities of a godly leader here's our first one a godly leader must see himself as a slave of Christ this is exactly how the Apostle Paul identifies himself in verse 1 look at what he says Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus now you'll notice that our ESV translation calls Paul and Timothy servants instead of slaves in fact this is true of most of our major English translations from the classic King James the new American Standard even the NIV it's either servants or bond servants believe it or not the sole exception to this is the New Living Translation which calls it as it is slaves now what's a big deal think about it what's the difference between being a servant and being a slave which one would you prefer you see what I'm getting at now of course Paul didn't speak the Queen's English or whatever we refer to as English here in New Mexico but we can look up the Greek word he used to see if it's a big deal or not so here it is in the Greek he uses the word in the plural do loi in the singular it's Doulos slave so this is the Greek word for servants and I would argue that it's best rendered in English as a slave or slaves and here's why for most of us nowadays a servant is a person that chooses to work for an employer and for a wage it may be a menial or unskilled type of task or labor but it leaves our basic sense of personal freedom and identity intact I'm a servant I serve here I work here I chose this job I get this much for compensation for doing this the word slave on the other hand is almost immediately cringe-worthy isn't it it conjures up images of our collective dark and sinful past slavery is imposed on you it's not something you choose a slave is owned and therefore there is no personal freedom or identity left with this most basic of definitions we rejected outright in favor of something yeah a little less offensive to our selves a servant I'm a servant but Paul was trying to communicate something very essential here and he did so by intentionally using this word Doulos slave slave is chosen just as God chose us in him before the foundation of the world Ephesians 1:4 the very beginning of it there a slave is purchased a price is paid first Corinthians 6:19 and 20 you are not your own for you were bought with a price and that price was the sinless sacrifice of Jesus himself he paid for you God chose you God the Son Jesus he paid for you why cuz you're a slave you belong to him but perhaps most importantly especially in this context of leadership that Paul is referencing here a slave is completely dependent upon the master every little thing the next breath and for leaders like myself the next sermon the next prayer all of those necessary gifts that are needed to lead God's people flow from the hand of the master James 1:17 proves this every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change so this is what Paul was trying to emphasize not only about himself but Timothy as well and by extension he was saying that all leaders within the church must be able to say this about themselves this is our starting point I am a slave of Christ God in his sovereign grace chose to save me when I was dead in my sins he paid for my Redemption with the blood of his sinless son all that I am and all that I ever will be is due to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I am a slave of Christ I'm fully absolutely dependent on him for everything and anything that good that comes out of whatever ministry I have that's all because of God it's not because I'm eloquent behind a pulpit it's not because I have this beaming personality that attracts a bunch of people it's not because somehow I I can influence people and draw a crowd it's none of that nonsense I am a slave I belong to Christ in anything and everything that is good is because of him now I'll be honest I don't know that we're there yet as leadership here at grace hill I can't speak for the other fellows and other folks here but as for me I know personally there's tons of room for improvement look if the leadership of grace Hill or any Church for that matter if we are unable to live as slaves of Christ not just say it but to actually live in that moment in that frame of mind with that in our hearts that I fully must depend on God in Christ for anything that good that comes out of me if we're not able to do that then who are we depending on ultimately ourselves right our wisdom our strength our personalities and skills and if we're guilty of being self dependent in all these ways guess what we're going to lead you to depend on yourself as well to depend on us but not God well man I was really fed today because Tim blah blah blah this that do you see what I mean you end up with a cult of personality rather than worshippers of the one true God according to pastor vodi Baucom this is exactly what's wrong with the modern church check out this quote Christian ministry today is awash with the idea of the cult of personality we believe that somehow God is in desperate need of men with fame and fortune who can make Christianity cool as opposed to men who can make Christianity clear oh my goodness powerful quote so then let's be crystal clear if we're ever going to unite for the sake of the gospel if God is going to use grace he'll to transform our community that is in desperate need then the leadership of grace Hill must depend on Christ like a slave depends on his master end of story to do otherwise is sinful and if we fall into this same sin described in Jeremiah 2 12 through 13 then we're going to lead you guys here as well check out this quote Jeremiah to be appalled oh heavens at this be shocked be utterly desolate declares the Lord for my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewed out cisterns for themselves broken cisterns that cannot that can hold no water in other words they no longer depend on me for their very life physical emotional spiritual none of that if that's who we are if that's who I am and my brothers and others here that are in leadership roles we're going to lead you to these empty cisterns where there is no living water our one and only task is to go I'm a slave I depend on Christ for everything about myself in everything I do in my ministry and I'm going to lead these folks that God has given me charge over given me the responsibility of shepherding I'm going to lead them to this living water not to me or to themselves so here's what you can do with this you've got to pray the leadership of grace Hill will become will remain slaves of Christ all for the sake of his kingdom all for the sake of us uniting for the gospel now then secondly a godly leader must see the church as God sees the church look at verse 1 again Paul and Timothy slaves of Christ Jesus fully dependent upon Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons notice who these self-described slaves of Christ are writing to it is not addressed to some of the Saints or to those that are wealthy and support us financially Paul didn't say to those of you in the church with power position prestige and influence the important beautiful people it doesn't say that and yet this is how some so-called pastors go about it maybe not so much in words but by their actions if you know the right people have the right last name if you make enough money well then they may be busy but they'll find time for you why do they act like that well if they cozy up to those that know all the right people maybe other right people will show up you have more people in your pews more money in your pocket if they have the right last name in your community maybe others in your community will follow them to your church and if they have enough money and happen to give to the church well maybe you can buy a Beemer and go on a cruise every summer yeah anyway Paul isn't like that is he now he's a slave of Christ he's not buying you know new horses he's not taking you know vacations to Spain I mean he's getting shipwrecked on creeks getting bitten by snaking snakes getting thrown off of cliffs left for dead stoned beat up persecuted by his own people by unbelievers then there's the church Paul's getting beat up for Christ on a daily basis and as he writes this letter he's in prison look at how he wrote in Galatians 3:28 look at what he says there because this is the way that he sees the church right Galatians 3:28 there's neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus I love you all the same is what he's getting at this is exactly how God sees us brothers and sisters we are all on equal footing before our Father because just as it says there we are all one in Christ Jesus one in the same in Christ regardless if we have money or don't regardless if we're relegated or not regardless of what color our skin is God loves us all the same why because we are in Christ we belong to him do to faith in his son now with that said we we all realize that some of God's people make more money than others some of us are better educated some of us own businesses while others work out in the field or at some place there are distinctions and we thank God for that diversity right that's the way the body of Christ is supposed to look different races different education different incomes all of that's good so when people walk in here they look around and they see all that diversity and they go why are these folks all together then they're not all white they're not all wealthy they're not all black they're not all this or that that they can understand they can wrap their mind around it and they can give the reason then well they're all the same race they're all this that the other but when we're diverse that's when it confuses the world and now something clicks they're gonna like what's going on here and then the answer is Jesus Christ we are in Christ so we're thankful for the diversity we're supposed to be a reflection of our community of Farmington of San Juan County so what is the great equalizer here why is Paul addressing us all rather than just a select few look at the text again Paul and Timothy servants slaves of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi so you see what he calls the believers there in Philippi right Saints hagion in the Greek and we need to explain this a little bit you see especially here in New Mexico we have some big misconceptions about what it means to be a saint I mean depending on us if you know if you're Hispanic or Caucasian the saint is either a plastic figurine on the dashboard or a dude that's eventually going to I don't know have his own planet multiple wives and raise up a bunch of kids to you know populate his own planet you get it Catholic Mormon no okay all of that's wrong Saints are hagion refers to someone that has been set apart for the purposes of God one of the best definitions of this is found in 1st Peter chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 you can see all the elements of someone that has been set apart in these two verses check it out he says this but you meaning all of you that have repented and trusted in Jesus Christ all of you the same you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light once you were not a people but now you are God's people once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy so get this Paul is referring to all the saints hagion at the Church of Philippi not just to select few super Christians if you will he's talking to all of them because they are all Saints they have all been chosen by God using language found in first Peter they are all priests in other words they get to go before God worship Him we are a holy nation a people for his own possession you belong to him we belong to him and what has God said his Saints apart to do he has chosen us we belong to him he has set us apart for what purpose look at verse 9 in first Peter chapter 2 again that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light do you guys see that that is the purpose of the church that's why God is chosen you that's why he owns you slave that's why he calls you a saint I have set you apart you are hagion there's something unique and very different about you us here's his purpose we're always wondering at what's God's will for my life and we usually you know we limit that to you know what job I should take career move that's it very limited perspective on those types of things who should I marry no here it is he's chosen you to be a part of the body of Christ a church that is united for the sake of the gospel and knows that God has chosen them knows that we belong to him that we are hagion we are set apart to proclaim the excellencies of the one who has saved us that's your purpose that's our collective purpose that's what God wants to do with us this is how Paul and Timothy the leaders of the church in general but this is how they see the body of Christ your hagion you're set apart you're a holy nation you're the possession of God not me you have been set apart to go share the gospel in Farmington Aztec Bloomfield Kirtland Shiprock that's what God has chosen us to do right here for this time for this place this is true of each and every believer not because we are sinless or perfect we belong to him because he chose to grab on to us to make us his own we know we're not sinless we know we're not perfect we know better than that we are flawed we are works in progress but look back at Philippians 1 1 again and you'll see why Paul has the audacity to see believers just as God sees us sees you look at what it says Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints the set apart one's for his holy purposes to all the saints and then there it is in that preposition right there is the most important word in that little phrase in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi do you see it the reason Paul refers to all believers as Saints a people set apart for the purposes of God is due to one fact alone we are in Christ alright then how do you do that how does that happen look at Romans 10:9 I trust that most of us have actually done this some of you haven't and you know it and it's not because you've gauged and you look at how messed up your life is and like oh my bad outweighs my good so therefore I'm not in Christ that's not it that's works and so I'm not going to encourage you to start keeping you know this spiritual scorecard Pharisees did that all the time and they were sinners lost they thought they had it going on they didn't here's how you know that you're in Christ look at what it says confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved tantamount to being in Christ when you were outside of Christ guess what God looked at you and you are standing in front of him trying to justify yourself all the time yes I know I messed up father I know I have this secret dark sin in my heart that nobody else knows about it's just between you and me but look at all the other good things that I've done with my life I believe that you exist oh yeah by the way demons believe--and they're gonna go to hell we say we hear that and James but I believe that you exist I even believe in Jesus Christ but in his own sermon Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter 7 Jesus said many on that day the day of judgment will come before me and say Lord Lord didn't I cast out demons in your name didn't I do this didn't I do that many of you are going to stand before God and you're going to say hey look I believe that you existed I professed that Jesus Christ was my Lord and I did all these things my good outweighs my bad I'm really a good person you owe me and what does Jesus say on that day I never knew you I don't know you nothing you see a relationship is not based on performance do you guys get this my sons my wife my girls the most intimate relationship I have they could step on me spit on me and still going to look at them and say I love you do you get it this is God's grace it is a relationship not a performance this is how you know you are in Christ confess Jesus Christ is my Lord it's more than just intellectual affirmation it is going I am NOT counting on myself any longer to place myself in heaven I am trusting in Jesus Christ in everything that he has done he is risen the tomb is empty he ends it there because that is the exclamation point on everything Jesus did he also lived a sinless life so that by faith you can look at him in his life and go that's why I'm going to heaven not because I kept the law perfectly I didn't but Jesus did and then he went to the cross and he died for your sins so that you can look there the eyes of faith and say that's why I'm forgiven not because I've made amends with God and I made up for it but because Jesus paid for all of my sins on the cross he said it is finished and I believe it and then you look at the empty tomb and you go that's why I'm going to heaven not because I deserve so but because Jesus has defeated sin and death on my behalf that's what it means to confess that's what it means to believe in your heart that's what it means to be in Christ and some of you need to do that right now stop listening to me bow your head repent of your sins and trust in Jesus Christ right now and you will be saved and while you're doing that I'm gonna preach on and then when you come up for air join us back in the word that's how you get to be in Christ that's how you know you are a saint someone that is set apart for the purposes of God that purpose being to go and proclaim the excellencies of Christ in this community folks this is how a church leader must see God's people we have to see God's people like he sees us as Saints if he truly wants to lead them to unite for the sake of the gospel okay so now it's truth-telling time forgive me I always set these things up something ugly but but here we go one of the single greatest struggles I've had as a pastor has been loving God's people the way God loves his people I mean think about it how much does God love his church he sent his sinless son to die on the cross for his people how do the elders of grace hill compete with that we don't but this is the standard this is the target we're supposed to aim for every day Christ's love for his church for his people was and is unconditional and sacrificial this is the way God sees his church his people you he looks at you and because you have trusted in his son you are now in Christ meaning he sees you robed not in your filthy rags called self-righteousness he sees you robed in the perfections of his son you were there for his Saints his people set apart for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel if the elders of grace he'll constantly look at God's people as a burden as a group of lazy sinners that are all we're always having to do counseling with these people or what have you we will never love you all enough to lead you to unite for the sake of the gospel we will always be focused on the negative instead of seeing you as God sees you these are my brothers and sisters in Christ these are the children of God and he says they are Saints I must do likewise without seeing you all through the lens of God's love and His purposes we will never see our community transformed through the power of the gospel thirdly a godly leader must equip and empower others to lead again just in verse 1 check it out Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi and that he says it with the overseers and deacons I know men it seems when I first got into this I was like how am I gonna preach you know just two verses and but then when you put it when you tie it with the overall theme of Philippians it kind of just jumps out and you see these these groups right here overseers and deacons and now you understand okay so Paul went to Philip I planted to church left got arrested and now that work continues on not because he's there but because he did the work important to the lives of qualified men to then take up the mantle of leadership so then leaders that see themselves as slaves fully dependent on Christ for their provision are then able to see God's people as God sees them as Saints set apart for the purposes of proclaiming the gospel this is what the church is supposed to look like and now the question is this who is leading the church at Philippi again it wasn't Paul or Timothy so Paul identifies them overseers deacons overseers are doing the league-leading while deacons are servants directly meeting the physical and emotional needs of God's people now then just focusing on overseers overseers comes from the Greek word episkopos which can literally refer to a guardian or a supervisor both concepts need to be brought together in order to understand what Paul is pointing out here oh and by the way every elder or pastor is an overseer it's not so much another leadership position within the church it's actually a word used to describe what an elder is supposed to be doing for instance an elder supposed to guard God's people and this is done primarily through the preaching and teaching of God's Word with that said an elder or an overseers also supposed to supervise or lead the church and in this context of the book of Philippians that means he's leading God's people to unite for the sake of the gospel so let's make sure we get that I want myself and my fellow elders to understand our roles here at Grace Hill and I want all of you to be on the same page as us as well and here's why there are some pastors nowadays that consider themselves like the CEO of their church whatever that means and you know this doesn't confuse me as though the business model of a CEO is above my head like I'm stupid or something I just can't find it in the Bible to save my life look as the elders of grace Hill we're not called to lead you to help us purchase new land build retirement homes on the acreage that we buy build bowling alleys for Jesus or some of the other crazy nonsense that I see going on we are to oversee the church that is guard the church but the preaching and teaching of God's Word not our latest vision you guys you've heard the sanctified language right from the pulpits God's given me a vision and I'm not even talking about charismatic swear they literally like you know I eat a weird pizza dude showed up at the edge of my bed you told me to go do this now I'm not talking about that now I'm talking about you know guys that have nothing to do with charismatic movement man that God's given me a vision every time I hear that I cringe man I'm like okay so here comes the sales pitch you know we're gonna build this Crystal Cathedral pen on the hill we're gonna have big shining lights at night you know fog machine vision it always costs you money almost always I don't know why their vision costs you money but it does and so I know I'm being real ugly here I promised I wasn't gonna be that way anymore but any anyway we're not called to lead you to help us purchase new land build retirement homes all that stuff we're to do this guard the church God's people by preaching and teaching God's Word that's what an oversee you're supposed to do he is a guard set up at a post because there is something precious there is a treasure here that God has set his heart upon and it's not money it's not buildings it's you his Saints his people and so we're supposed to guard that and we are then secondly to lead the church to unite for the sake of the gospel so there is a guarding and then there's also ascending now we're going to lead you to know and boldly go and share the gospel that's it now don't get me wrong I get the necessity of having a place to meet on Sunday but look the overseers are supposed to equip God's people to go out and do the work of the ministry in the community not to build temples to their egos obviously during Paul's time in Philippi he put in the work he shared the gospel God saved sinners Paul discipled those new believers and he trained up those God had called to be elders and deacons overseers and deacons he equipped them to do the work of overseers and deacons and then he entrusted that responsibility to them in other words he cut him loose no micromanaging in other words he's like okay you obviously have the qualifications you have the giftedness the church as a whole has seen that we've ordained you we've placed hands on you God has absolutely called you and now I'm gonna cut you loose because I trust that the same God that saved you the same Jesus that died for you the same Holy Spirit that lives in me he lives in you and he's going to give you all the strength and the wisdom that you need to shepherd God's church do you see what I'm talking about by the way this is why we're not doing satellite campuses and stuff like when we plan a church we're raising up ething Quimby's and josh Valdez's and others to go and do their thing not pump some video over there because we believe this he entrusted them to go he equipped them this means two things have to be happening in order for us to unite for the sake of the gospel one the existing elders had best be sharing the gospel trusting God to save sinners making disciples and training up the next generation of elder Deacon's so we can go and plant another church this is our church growth strategy it's not to build up this it's to build out there secondly some of you need to start praying through first Timothy 3 and Titus 1 some of you young men and otherwise because I have no doubt that God is calling some of you men to be elders and deacons the next leaders and servants of our future church plan they are sitting you are sitting right here right now we're not waiting for some guy with a seminary degree to show up and save Farmington no we're investing in you and we want to do that you got to tell us I think God's called me okay let's put you through the hoops let's see if he has secondly or rather the unbelieving world is never going to come to us we might get a few people from other churches to come hang out on any given Sunday but the lost folks in Farmington they're not coming to grace Hill and they're not going to other churches so we have to go to them and we need godly men to lead the way that our blueprint is found in Acts chapter 14 21 through 23 this is our script look at what he did when they had preached the gospel he's evangelizing sharing the gospel to that city and had made many disciples so he followed up shared the gospel in the middle of there god save sinners and then he poured in to those guys he made disciples they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to antioch strengthening the souls of the disciples always disciple encourage them continue in the faith in saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of god in other words he was a truth speaker this is going to be hard he wasn't telling him oh yeah man if you sign up to be an elder at our church you know you'd be wearing white suits and a Rolex you know by the end of the week or something stupid like that no he told them it's gonna be like it is for me beat-up shipwreck bitten by snakes all that good they know what they're getting into and when they had then look appointed elders for them in every Church plural not a pastor but elders pastors with prayer and fasting that committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed so elders this is on us Clint Steven this is us we must lead our people to share the gospel by example we must lead them to make disciples by example we must appoint qualified elders and deacons to repeat that process in other words we must lead our people to unite for the sake of the gospel it's on us guys lastly and very quickly a godly leader must bless the church finally verse 2 Paul and Timothy slaves of Christ Jesus this is how they saw themselves fully dependent upon God to all the saints not just some all the saints the hagion those that are set apart for the purpose of proclaiming the excellent excellencies of Christ who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons qualified leadership to lead a church to unite for the sake of the gospel grace to you and peace from God our Father the Lord Jesus Christ now obviously Paul is simply extending a common greeting and blessing here in verse 2 you can find it throughout his letters but what sets this one apart from other greetings is the fact that these blessings find their source in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Paul is reminding the Church of Philippi that they have been saved by God's sovereign grace grace to you it is a grace or a gift that has transformed their relationship with God from one of animosity to one characterized now by peace Christ to you in peace you know it's easy as a pastor and preacher especially to stand up here and as well to beat people up spiritually every Sunday use the law whatever texts oh you don't read your Bible every day what a loser you know go meditate on that for the rest of the week oh you didn't find time to pray today are you even a Christian you didn't share the gospel this week you must hate God and sinners lost people see it's one thing to challenge God's people to encourage them to grow spiritually but that kind of berating produces nothing more than self-loathing and hopelessness those kinds of folks are never going to be motivated to unite for the sake of the gospel they are simply going to be beat up every Sunday and finally they will give up and I beg your forgiveness for those times that I know that I have done that look if you hate yourself and you leave here feeling that no matter what you do it is never good enough then why on earth would you ever unite with your brothers and sisters in Christ to go out and share that same message this is why it's essential for a godly leader to temper his exposition of God's will his commands with a heavy dose of the knowledge that we are saved by grace and not works and that we are now at peace with our Father not at odds with him he is our father we are his sons and daughters all of this done through faith in Christ alone so my desires I want you to leave here this in every Sunday morning knowing God's will understanding I can't live up to that perfectly I just saw it I aspire to it but I'm never going to be that completely and despite having that knowledge I want you to leave here resting in the fact that God has saved you by His grace again not by your performance in that you are in fact at peace with him he is your father you're his son you're his daughter so here's what we're praying for for the leadership of grace Hill that we would see ourselves as slaves dependent upon God that we would see God's people as Saints set apart for the purpose of sharing the gospel that we would pour our lives in two other others so that we can duplicate ourselves appointing overseers and deacons and that we would be a blessing to this church and not just simply berate people I'm going to end with a quote from the guy I started with this morning Vince Lombardi coach and Green Bay Packers I watched a little documentary about him and he was very very interesting he was a Roman Catholic guy but he said this that kind of blew my mind I never knew this about him he said that he looked at football in his profession as a coach as a means of pouring Christ into the lives of the men that he coached Wow who does that he's the only one I've ever heard of talk in those terms here's what he said individual commitment to a group effort that is what makes a team work a company society a civilization I would add a church as well if you can get behind this and understand this is what a leaders supposed to look like all for the sake of the gospel uniting for the gospel so that my home my family my neighborhood my community could be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ if you can get your mind behind that one individual then it's contagious and all of us get behind that and now we have this momentum watch out world God's going to use grace Hill if we individually can think like that corporately God will use us let's pray father we thank you for allowing us to see your will your desire for the leadership here at grace hill for the future leadership of the churches that you give us the privilege of planting pray for higher ground that it would be like this that Josh Valdez and the other leadership there that they would have this in their hearts as well father that we would be these kind of leaders and I trust that your people will pray for that hold us accountable to that there's too much at stake your father it's not about us it's about the lostness that surrounds us so help us father to unite for the sake of the gospel help us to have leaders that will keep that at the forefront of their hearts and minds we ask this in Jesus name Amen so as we take a moment to prepare our hearts for communion you know when we're talking about uniting for the sake of the gospel and leadership that takes us to there that's what the cross did the cross took us to this place of unity with God the Father and with our brothers and sisters in Christ we are sitting at our father's table we are partaking of this spiritual food that is Jesus Christ we are united we are sharing a meal together and we're united for a purpose for the sake of the gospel for Jesus Christ so as you take a moment to confess your sins repent of them be cleansed of them resting in the perfections of Christ you come with that in mind Jesus Christ died not only that I can have his righteousness forgiveness and eternal life but that I could be something be a part of something bigger than myself and that is the purpose of God to go and share this with the world you come you

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Id: vt_K03QZN_s

Length: 47min 59sec (2879 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 09 2018