Leadership 106
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
July 22, 1998
Our vacation is coming. Revised Schedule.
Homework assignments – Did you have your Quiet Times? Did you pray for your ministry? Did you complete this week’s assignment in Spiritual Leadership?
Spiritual Leadership
Large Group Discussion
Share a lesson you learned from your Quiet Times this week.
(Have two or three share)Time (ch.12)
Quote: "Each of us has the time to do the whole will of God for our lives." (pg.94)
Why do spiritual leaders often feel undue pressure in the use of time?
Confused Priorities.
We say "yes" to too many things. It's sometimes hard to discern what to say "no" to. There are a lot of good things to be spending time on, but only some things are "best". The "good" is often the enemy of the "best".
Procrastination
I tend to get sidetracked with what I know is secondary, when I should just focus on what is primary.
I put things off for "tomorrow". Someone once prayed for me to have "instant obedience to the Holy Spirit". Neat idea!
Inflexibility.
Sometimes what we think we ought to be doing isn't what God wants us to be doing. We need to be flexible to what is going on around us.
Quote (pg.97):
One busy man told me how he mastered the problem of interruptions. "Up to some years ago," he testified, "I was always annoyed by them, which was really a form of selfishness on my part. People used to walk in and say, "Well, I just had two hours to kill here in between trains, and I thought I would come and se you." That used to bother me. Then the Lord convinced me that He sends people our way. He sent Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch. He sent Barnabas to see Saul. The same applies today. God sends people our way.
"So when someone comes in, I say, "The Lord must have brought you here. Let us find out why He sent you. Let us have some prayer." Well, this does two things. The interview takes on new importance because God is in it. And it generally shortens the interview. If a visitor knows you are looking for reasons why God should have brought him, and there are none apparent, the visit becomes pleasant but brief.
"So now I take interruptions as from the Lord. They belong in my schedule, because the schedule is God's to arrange at His pleasure."
Reading (ch.13)
I think I've noticed a tendency within some Calvary Chapels that some of us don't do a lot of outside reading. I think I'm pretty guilty of this myself.
We kind of think that the Bible is all we need to read. But I think there's room to stretch ourselves and grow if we would read.
What are some good books you've read this year?
Billy Graham's "Just As I Am".
How many of you make it a habit to read the same book more than once?
I was challenged by the idea of reading an important book three times.
Venture in Faith Video
"A New Worship Style"
What was so unique about the Calvary Chapel style of worship in the early days, compared to other churches?
It was fresh, expressing what was happening at that time.
It was contemporary, a style that the people could relate to.
Is Calvary Chapel opposed to hymns?
Nope.
What is the purpose of our worship times?
Worship honors God. He is worthy of our worship.
Worship leads people into God's presence. It helps them draw near to God in order to receive blessings, healing, the Holy Spirit, etc. from Him.
Worship softens hearts and prepares people to listen to the Word of God.
Focus Lesson
The importance of communicating the truth.
There are lots of ways to communicate the truth.
Some are old. Some are new.
Jesus would use unconventional ways such as parables to communicate the truth. Sometimes He would teach through the miracles He did. It held His audience. They could relate to much of His teaching.
(Mat 7:28-29 KJV) And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: {29} For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
There are some things that we can learn to be flexible in, for the purpose of communicating truth to people.
I think we can fall into a trap of thinking that "this is the way we have always done it." For a Sunday School teacher, it's dangerous to think that the kids are going to have to adapt to your teaching style in order to learn. It's dangerous to think that the only thing keeping the kids from learning is their serious lack of discipline. Sometimes discipline is a real problem. But sometimes it's because you haven't developed a connection with them to listen to what you have to say. I think it's better if you learn about the kids and then adapt to them. Puppets, games, crafts, snacks, ALL of these can become ways to communicate the lesson.
Know the people you are trying to communicate with and learn to adapt for the purpose of communicating the truth.
The goal has to be the communication of the truth.
That requires that you understand the truth, to understand God's Word.
How you communicate it is the flexible part.
Small Groups
Share prayer requests and pray.
Share one request for you personally, share one request regarding your ministry. Pray.