Rich Wilkerson, Jr. — Gaining Ground // Team Leaders Meeting

exodus chapter 18 verse 13 through 27 this is what it says says the next day moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people and they stood around him from morning till evening when his father-in-law saw all that moses was doing for the people he said what is this that you're doing for the people why do you alone sit as judge while all these people stand around you from morning till evening Moses answered him because the people come to me to seek God's will whenever they have a dispute it is brought to me and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and instructions now watch this Moses his father-in-law replied what you are doing is not good you and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out the work is too heavy for you you cannot handle it alone listen now to me and I will give you some advice and may God be with you aren't you already interested that this is in the Bible you must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him teach them his decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live in how they are to behave but select capable men and women from all the people men who fear God trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain and appoint them as officials over thousands hundreds fifties and tens have them serve as judges for the people at all times but have them bring every difficult case to you the simple cases they can decide themselves that will make your load lighter because they will share it with you if you do this and God so commands you will be able to stand the strain and all these people will go home satisfy Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said he chose capable men from all of Israel and made them leaders of the people officials over thousands hundreds 50s and tens they served as judges for the people at all times the difficult cases they brought to Moses but the simple ones they decided themselves then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way and Jethro returned to his own country I want to take the next 30 minutes or so and I want to talk to us this is a leadership talk this is talking to leaders I've said from day one that we are not a staff led church we're a servant leader led church and so pretty much today you being in this room you have signed up you didn't even know it but you are a staff member at vu Church so this is behind the curtain talk this is in you know the locker room before we go out on game day I'm not gonna pull any punches I'm going to talk to you straight I'm gonna talk to you like I feel it or getting ready for the biggest game of our life I want to talk to you today from this thought gaining ground gaining ground look at your neighbor and say it's time to gain ground I really believe that's what we're doing in season 1 of 2018 sidenote I know we got new team leaders in here and so let's just make sure that you understand that when we say this word season we're not just being kind of cool and saying something sort of trendy we have three seasons as a church season one is January February March April is what we call an off month that's where crews stop that's where team night stops that's usually where we have a heart and soul and we talk about leadership there's rhythm to our calendar then season two begins May June July August is an off month and all of a sudden crews stop team night stops why are we stopping we're stopping so that we can rest and we can get ourselves ready for the next season season three begins September October November then we take an off month in December in those off months what you already know as team leaders is that we evaluate we improve we come in we have off month meetings and some of you sat in those off month meetings and you evaluate yourself and you also allow someone to speak into your situation and Allen Joo so as I say we're gonna gain ground in season one that's because season one is a real thing it starts right now this is the first Sunday of season one and we're gonna gain some ground we're moving to two location that's called gaining ground I really believe that before Easter we're gonna break 4,000 people on a Sunday every Church we're gonna gain some ground what we're launching I think fifteen or plus more new crews taking us to 82 crews in season one it's called gaining ground I love what's taking place on Tuesday nights this this thing called foo care because who care it's it's growing it actually has a vision and the vision is is that we actually want to meet people where they are people come into church and let's just be honest man Sunday morning is amazing Sunday morning as a celebration but Sunday morning is not meant to identify and touch every specific niche need in fact it's never gonna be that but what Tuesday night is just is quickly becoming is when you have a need in a specific area there's going to be content and there's going to be resources that are meeting those needs and so we are now launching our third course which is called financial peace it's twelve weeks and steward in your finances I'm hoping to just hear some vision right now I'm hoping in season two that we launched our fourth course which I want it to be celebrate recovery which is a course designed for people that are dealing with addiction that they can walk into deliverance that they can find support come on how many believe we can do it but I got loads more vision I believe on Tuesday nights we're gonna start having specific classes whether that's a book of the Bible whether that's a specific thing in the Bible whether that's a class on gifts of the Spirit that could be class on prophecy that could be a class on eschatology for weeks on preaching for weeks on leadership it's endless what we can do and I'm proud of our food care team because they're gaining ground what we're gaining ground and today as we look to this text right here in Exodus we know that it's Moses that he's taken the people out of Egypt out of bondage out of slavery and they're now adapting to this new world that marching towards which is called the promised land and everywhere they go you'll find out that Moses and Joshua and the Israelites they have battle after battle after battle I always want to make sure that as a church and as leaders we're getting ourselves battle ready because soon as you conquer one mission there's another mission in front of you what you learned about mountaintops is that when you get to one mountaintop you realize it's time to climb again there's another mountaintop in front of us and so if you love mountaintops you just got to love climbing if you love actually the harvest you just got to be committed to the work and what we see about Moses Moses learns a valuable valuable lesson in Exodus chapter 18 about gaining ground and I think as we get ready for this new season as it's going to call for us to stretch like never before I keep seeing it this way that a lot of us I think we go oh man we're going from six services to four services this is going to be easier listen it's not going to be easier but it is going to be better but nor do for it to be better we've got to think better we've got to lead better we have to grow like never before I want to show you four things I see from this text that if we're gonna gain ground that Moses had to learn okay so number one the first thing if we're gonna gain ground is this it's simply this it's admit it's bigger than you you have to admit that it's bigger than you here's Moses he's in the wilderness with at least two million Israelites and with us what the scripture says is that Moses he sits out in the wilderness in every single day he is sitting in deliberation with people anybody who wants counsel Moses sits there and individually counsels them every meeting that's happening he sits in the meeting and watch what happens all of a sudden his father-in-law Jethro comes on the scene and Jethro sees what's taking place and look what he says Exodus chapter 18 verse 17 I'm sure you caught it but let me just remind you Moses is and father-in-law replied what you are doing is not good you and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out the work is too heavy for you you cannot handle it alone see what's happening here is that Moses is having me having an aha moment he's realizing maybe for the first time Wow this whole thing called leading these people leading this nation is so much bigger than me and me alone I think every one of us we need to have an aha moment today and we need to admit that this thing called vous Church is far bigger than your specific role come on it's important I've had to realize on this journey that this thing is already bigger than me so much bigger than me and in that I have to realize that it's not my responsibility to be in every meeting it's not my responsibility to be at every moment of vous Church it's not my responsibility to know everybody at vous church it's not my responsibility to sit in every counseling session with every person at this church in fact I remember one time it was probably I think it was maybe in season two last year someone our team who was really started from the church from us from the day one incredible and leader love this person so much launched the church with us high capacity leader I mean very very smart very very incredible but I remember finally they came to this point where they decided that they needed to quit the team and quickly after quitting the team that has had to leave the church but what it came down to when I met with this person was that simply they felt like I wasn't engaged with their area and I found it so interesting because as I sat and talked to this person I said you know the reality of it is is the reason why maybe you don't feel like I'm engaged with your area is because I'm trusting you so much to be so engaged with that area I think all of us we need to step back and realize okay I have a role I have a responsibility I need to own my area I don't have to be accountable for every area but I have to own my area I think you need to realize today that we are building leaders and if I'm really being honest and you need to be honest I can't handle this thing on my own you can't handle this thing on your own but there's an answer in it when you admit that it's bigger look at what look at what all of a sudden Jethro says to Moses exodus chapter 18 verse 21 watch this he says appoint men as officials over thousands hundreds 50s and tens have them serve as judges for the people at all time but bring but but have them bring every difficult case to you the simple cases they can decide themselves you see if we're going to share the load it means we have to build teams we have to think leadership the moment you admit that this thing is bigger than yourself is the moment that you've taken the first step to realizing I got to be a leader and what Jethro suggests to Moses as he says this he says you can't talk to everyone at every moment so what I want you to do is I want you to appoint capable men that are leaders of thousands leaders of hundreds 50s and tens newsflash that's what this room is right here you have been appointed you have been selected to be leaders of thousands hundreds fifties and tens it's called delegation it's called it's called leadership that once I come to a place that the task is bigger than myself I have to create a team I have to build a team some of you right now today you feel like you are drowning in your area and the reason why you're drowning in your area is because you still haven't recognized that it's bigger than you you still think that you can carry this thing on your back you can't you need to right now today go I got to admit it's bigger than me and I got to start raising people up yet watch this if you can't steward ten don't expect to lead a thousand I love this meeting today man because some of you like this is your first meeting like this is cool man look at what I'm walking into it wasn't this cool when we started three years ago I say three years because the first year was unofficial but we were planning and we were plotting the first leaders meeting was at my house 12 to 14 people but guess what it was it was that first moment that we had ten people right there and we had to steward it and we had to think bigger than ourselves and so before you know we had a gathering and a hundred people showed up we said wow now we got a hundred let's create some leaders of tens before you know it was 500 people we said we got to create more leaders my job and my role is to help you think bigger my job in my role is not to sit in every meeting but it's rather to empower you to own the space that you have to steward what you've been given and guess what your responsibilities your responsibility is to share this same type of thinking to those that you're leading you want to grow in your leadership then own what you have and steward it and take the leap into what God wants to take you to but you got to admit man this thing's bigger than you the thing I'm a part of man the part that I play is significant but I'm a part of something bigger than just my little part I'm bigger than I got something bigger around me watch this um I need this year and I wrote it down my drone said I need you to think bigger this year and when I say bigger I don't necessarily mean quantity I need you to think bigger than yourself think beyond your team think beyond your role write this down are you a lone ranger or are you a leader are you a lone ranger or are you a leader a leader admits this thing's bigger than me and I got to start raising up and delegating work I got a Delap delegate the tasks I delegate the mission I got to raise up people around magnet of roles gotta give her responsibilities gotta inspect what I expect got to evaluate but I need to have an aha moment Moses was sitting in everything thinking he could do it but he can't here's a couple of ways to spot if you're a lone ranger this is fun lone Ranger's they don't believe that anyone else can do the job other than themselves are you saying that right now are you caught saying that it's always interesting when people's like ha they just they can't they can't share responsibility they can't delegate because nobody can do it as good as them let me just help you out if somebody can do your job at 60% of the way you can do it you need to start sharing that load and you need to start developing that person watch this lone Ranger's they want the credit are you are you constantly feeling overlooked do you feel like nobody applauds you enough that nobody's giving you credit that nobody recognizes you enough you might be in jeopardy of being a Lone Ranger I love what Harry Truman said he said this you can accomplish anything in life provided you don't mind who gets the credit that fires me up man what would happen if I could become a pastor a leader what would happen if you could become a leader that said I don't care who gets the credit we're gonna change the world and our mission is to change the world our missions not to get credit leaders don't care about credit lone Ranger's do watch this this is good lone Ranger's they constantly say I and me instead of us and we if you're a team leader in this room you do not ever need to say my team it's our team you don't need to say well I did this no we did this yeah I think sometimes even people we cut about our crews I want a crew coaches challenged crews don't just say my crew say our crew it's thinking bigger it's thinking team it's going I can't handle this whole responsibility on my own sometimes I meet pastors and I'll meet these guys or I meet leaders I should just use that word that's probably better word and they'll introduce people on their staff and they'll say this is my staff member or this is my assistant I've always hated that I've always feel like that was just putting people at a lower spot everybody who's on our staff I feel like they're sharing the low with me I feel like they're in the valley with me I feel like they're partners with me they're not mine they're ours you need to take on that same mentality watch your language because your language is indicating how you view yourself are you a leader or you a lone ranger watch this lone Ranger's success stops with them all I care about is if my thing is going good all I care about is if my area is winning no leaders are going wow I can definitely help collaborate I can definitely help speak into that area leaders success is always about creating a successor that there's someone following me there's someone that I've I've raised up if you try to carry the mission on your own it will crush you but if you share the burden you can go the distance someone say share the burden come on someone say share the burden come on somebody give God a big shout of praise first thing we got to do if we're going to gain ground is we have to admit that it's bigger than ourselves number two is you have to listen and learn listen and learn everyone should be learning from someone I love it that Moses his father-in-law was the one that spoke to him I've got a strong father-in-law he's a pastor and he's a football coach I love getting around him because he's direct and he's clear and he gives me wisdom I think every one of us we need to open up our ears and we need to be willing to listen and learn watch what happens your Exodus chapter 18 verse 19 watch with Jethro that's father that's Moses his father-in-law he says listen now to me and I will give you some advice and may God be with you listen Moses wanted to improve so he listened if you want to improve you will listen if you want to grow you will listen I wrote down this way you will never learn if you don't listen and you will never listen if you already think you're outstanding people who don't listen are people like y'all I'm good I don't need to improve on the bass guitar I'm good I don't need to make the host team any better we got a good we're good no that is not ever gonna be our posture @vu Church I want us to be a place that's constantly listening constantly learning this past few weeks man I have been reaching out to every senior pastor that I know that's in multiple locations I've been getting them on the phone I have been hounding their assistants I've been texting then I've been asking them every question why because I feel like we need to grow I feel like we're stepping into a space that I've never been in before and I want to open up my ear and discover what God wants to say to us I just think on this journey that we have to be committed to listening and learning listening and learning is what allows us to grow I love our church I think it's amazing you know I want to be loud and clear that we have many areas to improve on in every area we need to learn we are not the latest we need to grow we need to expand and I'm not talking about numbers I want to make sure we're really clear about that I'm not - my numbers don't come about within some some of you you need to grow from within healthy things grow if I can get you healthy we're not gonna ever have a problem growing growing is not the mission growing is not the goal us being healthy that's the goal and it just turns out that healthy things grow but what are some areas that you need to grow in I think we need to grow spiritually I think there's some of you guys in this room right now that you love Jesus you love being a part of the food church community but it's time for you to step up and realize that you're a leader and that people are watching you from afar and you should be living your life above reproach where can you grow what is it you need to let go of what are some areas that you shouldn't be in anymore it's not legalism it's called leadership where are you gonna step in this you're going wow I'm carrying a responsibility people are watching me people are looking at me I need to grow spiritually I want our church to grow spiritually mature that we're able to hear from the Lord that we're able to seek his face I think there's 21 days of prayer and fasting is an incredible moment for you to lean in and say God I'm ready to stretch spiritually I need to heighten my convictions I need to heighten my standards the more I follow Jesus the more I look like Jesus amen I think some of us we need to we need to grow emotionally you can't keep trying about the thing you cried about last year you can't keep complaining about the thing you complained about last year you're growing you have to learn you can't keep being overwhelmed by what you are overwhelmed with last year it's one thing to to cry about that last year but you've grown you learned that lesson don't go backwards move forwards some of us we need to we need to grow physically it's interesting I'm serious I think we spent a lot of time in church talking about the spiritual things and talked about the supernatural things but I think we should honor God with every part of who we are mind body and soul are you honoring God with your body are you growing you know you only get one body some of you you're gonna have multiple cars and you treat your car but and you treat your body I'm beat up I promise you somewhere in 2018 I'm preaching a whole message on taking care of your physical I think it's that important I think as a church we should be leading our city in this area telling you we should be leading mentally you know that every time every when I was a kid I heard this little fact I like this little fact that every time you learn something new you get a new wrinkle in your brain how's your brain getting wrinkled up this year man how's your brain getting wrinkled at the show I know I started out 2018 I like to say it publicly because I think sometimes that public accountability helps me stay the course but I decided 2018 I'm calling it last year I said that 2017 was to be my most productive year ever 2018 I've decided to call it my year of discipline my year of discipline but I want to sharpen I want to improve I've decided and committed myself I'm gonna read two books a month in 2018 two books a month and I want more wrinkles in my brain yo I want more wrinkles in my brain what have you decided 2018 is gonna be for you because you need to grow and the only way you're gonna grow is when you listen and when you learn whenever I find myself in a place where I'm starting to feel overwhelmed when I feel maxed out of my capacity I always take that as a sign that I need to open up my ears I need to get some new advice some new guidance where I'm going is not where I've been I'm gaining ground come on somebody I'm gaining ground I'm gaining ground maybe today you're here and you're going I don't know if I need to improve I think I'm pretty good okay maybe that's where you're at but let me talk about myself for a minute because I know I need some improvement I know I need to grow in lots of different areas and I don't want to stay in the same place I want to grow as a husband there's a lot of areas I need to get better as a husband at love and on cherie at serving her the right way I want to improve this year I need to improve as a Christian like I do like I just I want to last night I was really cool party by the way shoutout to Ashton because I met like two of your friends who are exactly big personalities like yo Mike who are the girls and where do they all come from pretty and big personalities and talented I don't know a and H or something or they were amazing girls anyways we talked to him for a while is awesome but I'm just at this party I'm going man I want to make sure that every space that I step into that somehow in some way I'm reflecting the light of Jesus that I'm showing people I want to improve in that area I don't have a son yet but like I already know I need to improve as a dad I need to I can already tell like I need to grow guess what I'm gonna do I'll be calling so many dads in this room Jeff Crowe stirs over your page or tumors been doing this for a long time I'm calling these guys nick del vento I need help it's funny I decided me not to be had a conversation today like when it comes to our kids like I think sometimes people get really territorial rightfully so over their kids and that's one of those areas that don't talk about my kids don't speak into the areas of my parenting I don't want to be that guy I'm telling all of you I don't want to be that guy I want if I'm doing something wrong somebody let me know I want to raise up some godly kids some world-changing kids I need help i need help as a pastor oh my god there's so much about this book that I need to learn about there's so much about his presence that I have not ever stepped into I need help as a leader I don't want to just lead for my personality I want to have good strategies I want to have good ideas I want to make sure I'm leading people I want to I want to improve as like a boss I don't want just a bunch of people walking around me going on we don't want to make him mad he's always on level red he's angry I want to be a guy that people go I'm ready to die for that guy that's a guy that's worth following I want to work on this team I need to improve like my meeting skills like when I'm in a meeting I feel like sometimes I get kind of disengaged I go somewhere I don't want to do that anymore if I'm talking to somebody I want to be engaged with that person I want to look at them in the eyes go what's going on if I'm sitting in a deliberation meeting I want to bring the best version of myself I need help in strategies I need help with budgets my god we got to understand budgets better Lauren I want to improve in Microsoft Excel I'm just trying to tell you I think there's areas that we can improve in and we do that from listening learning I was going through our teams our crews right now.you crew coaches out there man how are we managing quality control it was one thing when we had four crews and you could go buying oh that is a cool vibe but now we got people leading crews that we don't even get to have these moments with them how are we ensuring these things are carrying the spirit and the culture of who we are the hose came in this room at like come on like host team I think the host team should be held to the same standard as the worship team they are working in tandem it's they got to create a distraction free zone I'm still wondering I think there's still some people on our host team that don't understand that they're supposed to be contributing to a distraction-free so sometimes I think the hosting themselves can be distracting how do we improve it how we look and how we learning parking team praise god you're getting your rosters in but what are we doing in season one to say wow we got this many cars out in this parking lot at this time that means there's that many people inside that room how are we building community on that team worship team how on earth are we making sure that people aren't just good singers but they're actually in love with Jesus they're living right Monday through Saturday how are we developing community I don't want a bunch of prima donnas I don't want a bunch of people that show up and check in and say yo I'm here to play my gig there's enough churches like that in Miami so who we are we have we have to listen and we have to learn and we have to be committed to growing to stepping into something new or our kids team I don't want it to be like it used to be I want it to grow I don't want just good making sure that it's safe that's that's fundamental I want this thing to give the Disney Channel a run for its money I got a kid now in that thing I got skin in the game we will prove that thing production my god shout these boys out how are we coming around the fact that we had two locations every meeting we have now has a production need so everyone we showed up there like all this is cool and breakfast we don't realize that last night there was a team setting up speakers there's somebody at a board right now doing things we need more people on these teams and I hate to say it but the production team is all like oh he's got a good heart let's use him you better have a skill what are we doing we got to listen we got to learn we got to grow we're getting advice everyone say I gotta learn somebody say you won't learn today number three I'm gonna I'm gonna go quick on these ones number three if we're gonna gain ground which is what we're doing we're gaining ground I'm admitting it's bigger than me I'm listening and learning but number three you got to pick the right people you got to pick the right people this is so very vital Moses his father-in-law he gives him this advice but but notice again what he says I want you to see the beginning part of this Exodus chapter 18 verse 21 but select capable men from all the people men who fear God trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain and appoint them as officials over thousands hundreds 50s and tens have them serve as judges for the people at all times but have them bring every difficult case to you the simple cases they can decide themselves that will make your load lighter because they will share it with you notice the beginning what he says he says select capable men from all the people women as well praise God men and women who fear God men and women who are trustworthy men and women who hate dishonest gain I don't know if maybe you've heard that like quote before like it's a famous like organizational quote and I've said it the last three years but now I'm changing it but I used to always say you know people are your greatest asset it sounds really beautiful but it's sort of true the right people are your greatest asset because I would go as far to say is the wrong people are your greatest liability see I like this who is more important than what who is more important than what who you're picking is more important than what you're doing who is in this room is more important than with whatever location we're going to getting the right people on this bus called vous Church is the most vital thing the second thing is we get them into their seats but the first thing is picking the right people we got it we had to make sure we're picking the right people we got to make sure that we've got the right people in place that they're people that have that care about the vision that care about who were becoming I wrote it down this way the other day that uh or I should say it this way I read this and good to great the day which I love so much is that a great vision with the wrong people is irrelevant a great vision with the wrong people is irrelevant we first started this church the best advice I got I didn't really understand when we first started but now more and more I do understand it was I was talking to a pastor friend of mine Pastor Louie Giglio and we were about a month or two out from announcing that we're gonna start this church this would have been like the summer of 2014 and Louis said I just want to give you a little piece of advice that when you announced this church two things number one don't ask anybody to go with you and number two anybody that you don't think should go with you tell them not to go with you and what he was saying is is that the right people are not people that you have to go and look at and say hey would you do this the right people put their hand up and say God spoke to me I'm supposed to be a part of this thing I'm signing up to go wherever this bus goes doesn't matter where it's headed it's matters who I'm doing it with secondly here's this big part it's going hey you're the wrong person that's a tough thing to say at times but in leadership we have to be aware of it I got to be honest with you when we started this church there's a lot of people that sat in meetings like this when we first started that are not here today and on one hand it makes me sad really sad cuz there's all sorts of stories some stories I think where they made a mistake some stories where they got off the bus too soon some story where they wanted to get to the promised land before we were even close to getting there but on the other hand it makes me thankful because I don't believe that we could have gotten to where we are had they stayed on the bus they would have sucked us dry of the energy we needed to gain ground for the future you got to ask yourself every single day am I the right person because being the right person is your decision I want to be the right leader that's what I'm saying I'm signing up again going I want to learn I want to grow I don't have it all together Here I am again I think we're planting all over again this season right now reminds me of when we first started our church that's how I'm going into this thing 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. that's how we started at jdd it's going to take some new sacrifice it's going to take some new leaders carrying big responsibilities that are not going am I on staff now we're serving this is God's house we're building something we're picking the right people so notice Jethro gave Moses some qualifications you know our big qualifications if you're wondering how do I know who the right people were number one you got to pick people that are thinking leadership that are thinking delegation that are thinking beyond themselves they're not just saying me and my little team but they're going this is bigger than me I got to share the load number two you want people that are listening and learning but let me just give you two pieces of criteria I think that I'm looking for and every leader always to be the right person it's just two simple words it's humility and will humility and will humility that there's this quiet calm confidence that you're not backing down that you're not too big to learn from somebody else that you're not too big to step into another area to serve in another space but on the flip side of that coin is that there's a will power there's a strong inner decision that I'm in this thing for the long haul I don't care what it takes I'm not giving up I'm not backing down I'm not running away there's a professional will inside of me that God has called me to this thing amen we got to make sure that we're picking the right people at the right people that were we're sharing and raising the right people two types of people in this world we all know this already I've taught it before there's either Energy Empires who that produce energy or you're an energy vampire you're reducing energy you don't want to be an energy vampire you don't want to reduce the energy of what's taking place you want to be a person who's humble and full of willpower amen amen numbers number for worshipping come up here I'm gonna finish right now number four is simply this I love this for in a gain ground we have to stand the strain we're gonna gain ground we have to stand the strain you know why there aren't more great churches because people can't stand the strain it's it the reason why there aren't more great churches in this nation or in this city is because people aren't willing to stand the strain somehow we think ministry means easy I'm not bringing too bad news but we need to know it in our heart ministry is spelled with four letters wor K work takes work all of this today it has taken work it's worth it but it takes work and you have to decide in your art am I going to be a person who's gonna stand the string am I gonna be a person that's not gonna back down I'm gonna I'm gonna stand the strain everything you heard the day about itec I think that's you should take that like at face value go that's what we're doing but you should also be ready for an audible call huh for something to adjust hey we're not gonna do a 12 p.m. at jdd we're gonna do a 12:30 p.m. at J TV I don't know what could adjust I just know that we're in the game and you put a strategy out there and you give some plays to the team but then a good team a great team they're ready to adjust in real time that's who we are we got to be people that say I'm gonna stand this trend no matter what the strain feels like in my area or my space I'm gonna stand it I'm gonna endure it I'm gonna realize that pressure is producing something inside of me that I wouldn't even know these gifts inside of me unless I stood under this thing I'm better than I was last year I've grown from last year this season man I'm ready for the new challenges men in all these challenges how many others lots of fun there's lots of celebration there's lots of beautiful moments we heard some great stories today why do I do what I'm doing why do you do what you're doing because of the stories that we heard about in boot kids because the one that Fumi shared about @foo care people coming and stepping into the light finding freedom watch what the scripture says this is powerful Exodus chapter 18 verse 23 Jethro says to Moses if you do this and God so commands do what if you can admit it's bigger than you and you can think leadership quit being a lone ranger be a leader if you can listen and you can learn if you can pick the right people who before what can have a great vision what the wrong people is irrelevant if you do all this and God so commands you will be able to stand the strain and all these people will go home satisfying I don't know something about those words right there they speak to me as a pastor and as a leader I want them to speak to you as a leader that if I stand the strain people are gonna go home satisfied what a thought and I'm not trying to like scare you but people's satisfaction at times is contingent upon the leader standing the strain your ability to handle pressure is creating peace for somebody else your ability to handle the pain and the monotony and the trials is is creating hope and healing for somebody else you're not doing this for your glory you're doing this for God's glory and you're doing this that people might encounter him stand the strain we're gaining ground in 2018 we are gaining ground and we got to all come together we got to all join our hearts together and we got to look at one that is us share the burden together let's do this thing together you got to trust the person on your right trust the person on your left that they are engaging in their space and that they're honoring their role and their responsibility and as they run their race you got to run your race my favorite little stories were closing right now but it was during the National Championship a few years ago when FSU a caribou they were playing Jameis Winston was quarterback back then and they're playing Auburn and they were down by quite a bit against Auburn and losing pretty bad but they had this model on their team that loved so much and the model was really simple they would look at somebody and they would ask him a question they would say are you strong and then the response would be I'm strong if you're strong it's so late I think in the third or fourth quarter they're down pretty bad and so Jameis Winston grabbed his team and hauled them up and he looked across at guys and said are you strong the guys responded back I'm strong if you're strong I think we ought to make that a motto here at vous Church in season 1 some of us were getting ready to go to two locations and you might not see somebody on a Sunday but when you do see them you want to look at and say are you strong and our response should be I'm strong if you're strong are you strong are you strong are you strong are you strong are you strong

Channel: VOUS Church

Views: 9,443

Rating: 4.0819674 out of 5

Keywords: rich wilkerson jr, vous church, gaining ground, dawnchere wilkerson, miami fl, leadership, church planting

Id: IwM0JoaIEaM

Length: 40min 22sec (2422 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 08 2018