Empowering Leadership and Love for the Marginalized

Devotional

Day 1: Serving with Purpose and Love

The church's involvement in "A Night to Shine" is a profound expression of love and service to the special needs community. This event is not merely about hosting a prom but is a significant outreach to demonstrate the love of Jesus to those who may feel marginalized. It is a reminder that every individual is valued and loved by God. By participating in such events, the church builds trust and creates opportunities to share the gospel with those who might not otherwise experience it. The commitment of 270 volunteers highlights the joy and dedication in serving others, reflecting the heart of Christ. [16:07]

"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." (Galatians 5:13, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your community might feel marginalized or overlooked? How can you intentionally show them the love of Jesus this week?

Day 2: Leadership Born from Necessity

The early church faced significant challenges as it grew, particularly in the fair distribution of resources among widows. This situation underscored the need for godly leaders who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. God often uses challenges to raise up leaders and visions, teaching us not to fear difficulties but to see them as opportunities for growth and leadership development. Godly leadership arises from great needs, and it is through these challenges that leaders are equipped to guide others and expand God's kingdom. [42:30]

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-12, ESV)

Reflection: What current challenge in your life might God be using to develop your leadership skills? How can you embrace this opportunity today?

Day 3: The Foundation of Character in Leadership

In a world that often overlooks the importance of character, the Bible emphasizes that godly leadership is rooted in character. Leaders should be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, possessing a good reputation. This is crucial for building trust and leading with integrity. Godly leaders are humble servants who empower others and spread the gospel. The early church's decision to appoint leaders based on character led to the rapid spread of the gospel, teaching us that leadership is not about holding power but about serving others. [54:35]

"Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy." (1 Corinthians 4:2, ESV)

Reflection: Reflect on your own character. What steps can you take to ensure that your leadership is rooted in integrity and trustworthiness?

Day 4: Embracing Unique Roles and Giftings

Godly leadership recognizes the value of different roles and giftings within the church. Each person has a unique calling, and when leaders focus on their God-given roles, the church functions effectively. This understanding prevents burnout and ensures that all ministries are valued equally. By affirming the diverse gifts within the church, leaders can empower others to fulfill their roles, contributing to the overall mission of the church. [58:32]

"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching." (Romans 12:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: What unique gifts has God given you? How can you use them to serve your church and community more effectively?

Day 5: Expanding the Kingdom through Empowerment

When godly leaders serve in their roles, the kingdom of God expands. The early church's decision to appoint leaders for specific tasks led to the rapid spread of the gospel. This teaches us that leadership is not about holding power but about empowering others to fulfill God's mission. By focusing on empowering others, leaders can create a ripple effect that extends the reach of the gospel and strengthens the church community. [01:07:03]

"And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also." (2 Timothy 2:2, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life can you empower and encourage to take on leadership roles? How can you support them in their journey today?

Sermon Summary

In today's gathering, we celebrated the joy and mission of our church, particularly highlighting our upcoming event, "A Night to Shine," in partnership with the Tim Tebow Foundation. This event is a prom for special needs teenagers and adults, and it serves as a significant outreach to show our love and Jesus' love for the special needs community. We are blessed with 270 volunteers who are committed to making this event a success, and we took time to pray for the caregivers, VIPs, and volunteers involved. Our prayer is that this event will be a catalyst for building trust and sharing the gospel with the special needs community.

We also delved into the importance of godly leadership, drawing from Acts 6. The early church faced challenges as it grew, particularly in ensuring fair distribution of resources among the widows. This situation highlighted the need for godly leaders who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We learned that godly leadership arises from great needs and is characterized by godly character, understanding of roles and giftings, and a commitment to prayer. Godly leaders are humble servants who expand God's kingdom by empowering others and spreading the gospel.

As a church, we are reminded that we are part of the ongoing story of Acts, and we are called to be godly leaders in our community. Whether in the church, workplace, or home, we are to lead with integrity, humility, and a focus on Christ's mission. We are encouraged to seek God's wisdom in our leadership roles and to be a witness for Christ in all areas of our lives.

Key Takeaways

1. given roles, the church functions effectively. This understanding prevents burnout and ensures that all ministries are valued equally. [58:32]
5. Expanding God's Kingdom through Leadership: When godly leaders serve in their roles, the kingdom of God expands. The early church's decision to appoint leaders for specific tasks led to the rapid spread of the gospel. This teaches us that leadership is not about holding power but about empowering others to fulfill God's mission.

** [58:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[16:07] - Prayer for "A Night to Shine"
[29:43] - The Need for Godly Leaders
[32:10] - The Book of Acts: Our Story
[33:53] - The Church's Mission and Challenges
[41:43] - Godly Leadership Arises from Needs
[42:30] - Embracing Challenges as Opportunities
[43:15] - The Importance of Character in Leadership
[48:29] - The Role of Godly Leaders
[53:11] - Seeking Wisdom and Good Reputation
[54:35] - The Value of Roles and Giftings
[58:32] - Affirming Leaders through Prayer
[60:56] - The Impact of Godly Leadership
[67:03] - Expanding God's Kingdom
[71:56] - Call to Lead with Integrity

Sermon Clips

"You can have a seat, church. There's a reason why this should be the most joyful place in all of Cumberland County, man, because it's the church. And we've got a reason to celebrate today. Man, we are so thankful that you are here. I want you to know this is a joyful week in the life of Temple Baptist Church because we are hosting, in partnership with Tim Tebow Foundation, A Night to Shine. It is a prom for special needs teenagers and adults. It is a major outreach. I want you to understand why we're doing this. We want our special needs community to know that this church loves the special needs community, and more importantly, Jesus loves the special needs community." [00:14:21]

"Lord, in all places, at all times, over every ethnic group, over every nation, every tribe, every tongue. And Lord, you are even generous, gracious Lord over our special needs community. God, we're making a big step as a church out of faith this week to reach these, these VIPs and their caregivers and to let them know that you love them and that your church loves them. So, Lord, there's 101 or 102 names on a sheet that we have in our offices that make up roughly of about 300 people that we aim to share the gospel with." [00:16:11]

"All of us need godly leaders. We're back in Acts. We're going to be in and out of Acts all year. I like to hit, I like to get to a certain point in books of the Bible and we shift to somewhere else and we come back to it. And so we're going to be in Acts off and on throughout the year. And I want you to understand if you're new here and what is the book of Acts? The book of Acts is oftentimes called the fifth gospel. You have four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. All of those four books are eyewitness accounts about the life of Jesus. Hear me say this." [00:33:15]

"Godly leadership arises out of great needs. It doesn't matter how proactive you can be in your life, and you should be proactive and prepared, there's always going to be a great need. There's always going to be a problem. There's always going to be something that will arise, and it's going to be something that will arise, that we will need some, we will need leadership through. And oftentimes, a great need and a great problem gives birth to both godly leaders and a godly vision." [00:42:00]

"Godly leadership is led by godly character. Did you notice in verse 3 what is not discussed in verse 3 about the people they need? Listen, they did not go listen, this was not the conversation. All right, guys, listen, the Hellenistic Jews, the widows are being neglected over here, so here's what we need to do. We need to find somebody who's working in the restaurant industry. We need to find a waiter or a waitress, a restaurant manager, a general manager, a restaurant owner. We need to find somebody in that regard to come over and lead this. That's who we need." [00:49:41]

"The culture has you believing, as Christians, that character doesn't matter in leadership. And you just saw that it does. The reason why this is the point, the building block of leadership, is solely because God is looking for people who will lead with a pure heart and a pure mind. And our world is far from it. Our world is far from it. All right, let me illustrate. All right. Look, I began shopping my book. When I got to a certain point, I began shopping my book to publishers, right? And I had certain publishers say, eh, it's not really our thing." [00:54:17]

"Godly leadership understands the values and giftings of role, the value of giftings and roles. Notice in verse four, but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word so in verse three they're looking for guys to appoint to this duty so that they can put their focus on ministry of the word now why is that important because they're realizing that both this meal this ministry in the ministry of the word are vital and necessary and godly one is not superior to the other." [00:58:32]

"Godly leadership affirms by prayer called and capable men, called and capable men, and called and capable women for that regard. Here in the text, here's what you see. So good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, who they can appoint to this duty. So in verse 5, Man, that's a really good decision, right? The church united, and so they chose Stephen, and Stephen is a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit. Now, in a few weeks, you're going to see who Stephen really is. You're going to find out Stephen was much more than somebody who waited on tables and led this ministry." [01:00:56]

"Godly leadership expands God's kingdom and leaders. So what happens when all of these godly leaders start serving in their roles the way God's called them to, and they're affirmed in prayer? What happens? The text says the word of God spread quickly. It began to spread quickly. It began to spread home to home, heart to heart, person to person. The word of God began to spread quickly. The disciples in Jerusalem, those who followed Christ, began to increase greatly in number and a large group of priests, Jewish priests, surrendered their life to Christ and became obedient to Christ in the faith." [01:07:03]

"Godly leadership seeks to expand the kingdom. Godly leadership does not harbor leadership to itself. Godly leadership does not celebrate and idolize one person or a group of people. Godly leadership begins to spread itself apart when they recognize that people are called and gifted in a variety of ways and once they do and they take that humble pill and they serve to empower those leaders and lift them up and give them the freedom to serve then what happens is the mission of the gospel gets to go places that we never imagined they would go." [01:08:31]

"Can you imagine for a moment what our community would look like is if a believer took these things to heart and began to find avenues of leadership in our community and lead in ways that are full of the spirit of full of the holy spirit in his wisdom could you imagine what would happen to our community the devil would constantly be on attack and we would be fully aware of it but he would would not gain ground on us because we are full of the Holy Spirit. And we would be full of his wisdom and we could navigate whatever war he wants to start." [01:11:56]

"My point is I can identify these godly leaders. Not to be boastful, but those godly leaders are you and me. It's all of us. And so let us by the Holy Spirit's power start to lead right where he's planted us. Our praise team's gonna come up. I think I've gone over by a lot. I've gone over twice now. So you should get a free appetizer at me because it's a great place. But listen, I wanna say this. Some of you right now are wrestling with that call and that's okay. That's totally okay." [01:13:35]

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