Here is the message/training i did at our Unity service on 8/21/11 in Orlando. Hope this will encourage and bless your life; my purpose was to inspire men & women to raise up to be leaders. Pioneering is tough work, so my goal in our church is to raise up a team who has an understanding of leadership and ministry service. At this foundational stage in our little church I am striving to create a leadership culture in our church; i want it to be in our CORE.
Proverbs 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
When it comes to owning oxen, there are disadvantages. They eat a lot. They can be expensive and time-consuming
to keep. If you don’t have any oxen, you can save a lot of time and expense.
On the other hand, oxen are the tools for an abundant harvest. Their cost and inconvenience does not compare with their productivity.
Our greatest return – churches growth is going to come from people bringing people! We must equip our people to bring people and train them to “keep people”.
Proverbs 24:27 Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.
NLT – Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house
- the “field” may be the man’s outer common work, the “house” the dwelling-place of his higher life. He must do the former faithfully in order to attain the latter. Neglect in one is fatal to the other.
We must Prepare for the Harvest! The harvest we keep is in direct proportion to how much we can handle. God will not give us what we cannot handle.
- Leadership is the key!
- The size and quality of our leadership will determine the size and quality of our harvest.
- Little leadership, little harvest.
At This Stage (pioneering) What Kind of Leaders do we need?
1. Faithful Leaders
Faithful; strict or thorough in the performance of duty; reliable, trusted or believed.
- Now how to come to church, now how to serve, now how to give.
- Completes tasks and compliments the ministry.
- Are assets and not liabilities
- Know how to perform under extreme pressure.
Lk. 16:12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your
own?
- This is the true test of a leader; to see if he will be faithful with what is someone elses.
2. Committed Leaders
- Count the Cost: ministry is hard work and demanding.
- Determine to pay the price: willing to serve no matter what.
- Committed Leaders Focus on Choices, not conditions
-People approach commitment in two ways: they focus on the external or the internal.
-External expect conditions to determine whether they keep their commitments.
- Internal, focus on their choices, your choices are the only thing you truly control. You cannot control your circumstances,
nor can you control others’. By focusing on your choices, and then making them with integrity, you control your commitment – this often what seperates success from failure.
3. Competent Leaders
- Research has found that this is one of the attributes that people look for and admire most in leaders.
What is Competence?
It is the leaders capability to perform well in a specific context, having the expertise and ability to get things done.
Three elements of Competence:
1. Competent Leaders are Gifted leaders.
- God has given them the necessary gifts and abilities to lead and serve in the ministry – these are both natural & spiritual gifts.
2. Competent Leaders are Knowledgeable leaders.
- They have the knowledge and intelligence necessary to accomplish their God-given tasks.
- They know what to do, either intuitively or because they’ve learned it.
3. Competent Leaders are Skillful leaders.
- Competent leaders generally know what to do, it’s also important that they know how to do it.
- Knowing what to do is half the battle, being able to carry it out assures victory.
- We need to know how to do what we know.
Why is leadership so vital to a church’s growth?
- It enables the Pastor to extend his influence to the congregation.
- The congregation is the greatest factor in new guests coming back.
The most Important Person on Sunday:
- The Visitor, then…
- Usher
5 Significant Facts about first time guests
1. Visitors make up their minds regarding a new church the first ten minutes of their visit.
- Are we prepared for Guests.
2. Most church members aren’t friendly
- They may be friendly to people they know, but not to guests.
- We must make them feel welcome before & after the service.
3. Church guests are highly consumer –oriented
- If we don’t provide what they need then they’ll go where it does.
4. The church is in the hospitality business
- Difference between a Visitor/Guest
5. You only have one chance to make a good first impression
- First impressions are lasting ones; there’s little hope of correcting a bad first impression.
- This is why Vision plays a vital role in a pioneering church; because we are limited in oue children’s ministry, our music needs work, but if we can cast a compelling Vision so our guests can clearly see we have plas for future up-grades and doing ministry with quality and excellence.
The Ox represents our Leadership;like the oxen having them or developing them will require a lot of work and feeding/training, but from them we can receive and keep an abundant harvest.
In order for us as a church to keep our harvest then we need to equip leaders to Serve, Host and Lead in our churches.
Hope this can be a blessing to someone out there; Leader, RISE UP!
