The Servant Leader

During training exercises, the lieutenant driving down a muddy back road encountered another car stuck in the mud with a red faced colonel at the wheel. "Is your jeep stuck, sir?" asked the lieutenant as he pulled alongside. "Nope," replied the colonel, coming over and handing him the keys, "but yours is."
We live in a world in which leaders, politicians, along anyone else who has power expects others to serve them. But when it comes to Jesus, He has done the opposite; Jesus has come into our lives saying “allow me to serve you”. Jesus demonstrated that the greatest leadership model is that of the servant leader who puts others ahead of self. In doing so, Jesus was able communicate both in word and in action the message that He cares for all people. That is why people listened to Him when He spoke or why they followed Him when He traveled. We all have someone to lead; it could be our children, our peers, or even a large company; whoever it is, allow the Jesus model of leadership to be your guide as you lead.

“5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8 NIV

Yes From God

The owner of a manufacturing firm decided to make a surprise tour of the factory. Walking through the warehouse he noticed a young man lazily leaning against a packing crate. The factory owner angrily said, "Just how much are you being paid?" The young man replied, "A four hundred dollars a week." The owner pulled out his wallet, peeled off four $100 bills and shouted at the young man: "Here is a week's pay--now get out and don't come back!" Without a word, the young man stuffed the money into his pocket and left. The warehouse manager, standing nearby, stared in amazement. "Tell me," the boss asked him, "How long has that guy worked for us?" "He didn't work here," replied the warehouse manager, "He was just the Fed-Ex guy delivering a package."


I do feel sorry for the owner of the firm. Every moment is one that has opportunity and purpose. Unfortunately, we live in an age in which wasted moments have become common place and acceptable. God however has called us to capture every moment and surrender them to Him. I don’t think God desires that we become busier, but I do think He expects us to be more connected to Him and to His will. As the scripture below implies, God’s message to us has always been “Yes, I want to be with you and empower you to do my will”. Imagine all of the amazing things we could do if we allowed ourselves to be connected to God in every moment. Every time that we are confronted with an opportunity to do good, I believe it is God once again saying to us, “Yes, I am with you, and now let’s live this life together.”

“18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:18-20 NIV

No Barrier Can Stop Him

I love the story of Jesus walking on water.  Not because Peter tried to walk out to Him or because Jesus lifted Peter out of the water; I just love that Jesus was willing to walk out to them.  We live in a world filled with barriers and roadblocks that keep us from being where we want or need to be.  When the apostles were crossing the Sea of Galilee they were following Jesus’ direction, knowing that they would eventually meet up with Jesus.  I get a feeling that whenever the apostles were separated from Jesus that they felt a sense of uneasiness. After all Jesus was their leader; without Him they were like a boat without a paddle.  When the storm hit their boat, they were overcome by both fear and a sense of powerlessness.  We see their fear grow even more when they saw someone walking out on the water toward them.  Was it a demon or ghost?  They were unsure at first, but then Jesus put their fear to rest and said “it is I, don’t be afraid.”  When they finally allowed Jesus into the boat, they immediately arrived at their destination.  Ultimately Jesus was their destination, because only when they were with Him were they able to overcome their fear and have the power to finish the task of crossing the lake.  This story once again illustrates how there is no barrier or distance that can keep God from being with His people.  He wants to be in your life, He wants to give you power, and courage; will you let Him into your boat?    -Vic

“Trust God Today” Small GROUP LESSON

“Trust God Today” LIFE GROUP LESSON
How would you define the word “trust”?

READ Exodus 14:1-31
God parted the sea, and the Israelites crossed on dry ground to the other side. If you were there, describe how that event would have made you feel.

What would you have been thinking?

Notice v.31, the people saw the power of God, and how God used His power to help them. That is why they put their trust in Him. Why was it important for the Israelites to learn to trust God?
(ANSWER: The point of this story is that God saves & provides for His people, that God is powerful and He uses His power to protect them. Because of that, it is the responsibility of God’s people to put their trust in Him.)

Our problem is that we want to put our trust in other things. The trust we should place in God often goes to what?

READ Exodus 17:1-7
What were the Israelites doing wrong?
(answer: The problem was that the people were too busy being focused on themselves that they no longer noticed what God was doing for them.)

Because of doubt, and a lack of trust the Israelites wanted to abandon God and go back to being slaves in Egypt. God wants us to trust Him, why is a lack of trust in God harmful to us?

READ Romans 10:10-11
We feel shame because we …
(answer: The reason we feel shame is because our focus is on the wrong thing, it is on us, and not on God.)

In order to overcome the shame of selfishness, God must become our focus. When we stop looking at what we can’t do, we begin to focus on what God can do in our lives. Ask the group to share what they think God can do in their lives.

READ Hebrews 3:12-15.
What is your favorite holiday? What makes that day special?

Why do you think the word “Today” is capitalized in most Bibles in v.13?

The Hebrew writer is saying “Today” is special because today is a day with God, therefore it is a special day (an opportunity) to grow closer to Him, and to help others. Today is special because God is part of it. By the way, what day does “Today” fall on? (answer: everyday)

What can we do to learn to trust God more every day?

God wants us to trust Him today by focusing on Him and not ourselves. If we want to be free of sin and negativity, then must learn to celebrate and trust God Today!

Close in prayer…

Small Group Lesson John 6

LIFE GROUP Lesson: Jesus 24/7. Jesus all the time!
What are some things that you think are impossible to achieve?

What are some things that our great grandparents might have thought were impossible in their day and yet are possible today?

READ John 6:1-9
Why did Jesus ask the question “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”

Rather than answer Jesus directly, Philip answered Jesus’ where question with a statement that focused on what resource? (answer: money)

Do you think that was the answer Jesus wanted to hear?

When it comes to doing good things (God honoring things), why does money often become part of the discussion?

If we focus simply on the money or property we have, what things might we ignore or miss?

Andrew answered Jesus’ where question with a how question. What do you think Andrew was alluding to here? (answer: I think he was saying that it would be impossible to feed all of the people)

When it comes to serving God, why do we focus on the barriers or on what we perceive as impossibilities?

When we focus on the impossibilities who is our focus not on?

READ John 6:10-15
What did Jesus do with a young man’s lunch?

Do you think 5 loaves and 2 fish was some of the lunch, most of the lunch, or all of the lunch?
(answer: I think all of it)
READ Philippians 4:12-13
IDEA: One powerful idea we get from this story is that all things are possible when we give all things to Jesus. The Apostles were focused on money & worldly resources in order to feed these people; but what Jesus wanted them to learn is that they needed to give themselves completely to Jesus in order for them to be completely capable of meeting the needs of others.

The 12 apostles collected 12 basketfuls of bread after Jesus had already fed 5000 men (possibly 20,000 people all together) all from one child’s lunch. What does this story tell us about the provision Jesus gives to those who serve Him?

Close in Prayer

Independence Day

We have been blessed to live in the greatest country that has ever existed.  I have travelled all over the world and have been amazed by the lack of freedom that other nations have to endure.  Did you know that in most other countries a church must be government approved?  Also many churches in other countries live in fear of being shut down or fined by their local police.  We could go on and on about this topic; I'm saying all of this to say that we are one of the few nations that are blessed with the freedom to worship without interference or persecution by our government.  July 4th is a day in which we celebrate our independence, but for God's people we also celebrate the exceptional freedom that we have to worship and serve our God.  May God continue to bless America.