Guideline #3: HAVE CHRIST-CENTERED LEADERS WHO LEAD BY EXAMPLE

SERIES: “GOD-GIVEN GUIDELINES FOR GROWING A GREAT CHURCH”
(Based on Bob Russel’s When God Builds a Church)

TEXT: 1 PETER 5:1-4

TITLE: Guideline #3: “HAVE CHRIST-CENTERED LEADERSWHO LIVE BY EXAMPLE"

INTRODUCTION: A. Tom Landry was head coach for the Dallas Cowboys for almost 30 years. The
USA TODAY headline that announced his death in the year 2000 read: “Landry’s
Death Leaves Texas-Size Legacy.”
The Cowboy’s personnel director said, “He was a man of substance who knew
what his priorities were in life.” Landry told people: “Football is down the list with
me. My religion comes first. My wife comes second. Then football.”
Tom Landry was tremendously successful as the Cowboys head coach. One
commentator said, “Landry’s legacy is far more than that as the NFL’s third-
winningest coach. It is more than two Super Bowl triumphs. We remember him for
what he stood for as a person. Decency. Dignity. Honesty. Loyalty. Go ahead – try
to find a Tom Landry in the NFL these days.”
Landry was once asked how he dealt with setbacks. He answered, “I suffer after
losses, but fortunately do recover quickly. My relationship with Christ gives me a
source of power I would not have otherwise.”
Tom Landry provided the significant leadership he did through strength of
character and faith with his priorities intact. He knew that football was just a game
and that integrity mattered on the field and off. As former Cowboy Drew Pierson
said, “Landry was a teacher. He taught a lot more than football.”

B. Over the last several years, I have spent a considerable amount of time studying
churches that are growing.
1. Some experience a big boom and then a big bust.

2. The ones that have grown and keep growing are the ones I’ve continued to study.

3. The guidelines you’ve heard me speaking about are the principles that are
consistent in every congregation that is growing spiritually and physically
--Amazingly, all these guidelines are the same ones that are given to us in the New
Testament and implemented in the 1st Century church.

4. This morning’s guideline concerning Christ-centered leadership is the guideline that
makes all the others