Sermon Central
-
Helping The People Around You To Accomplish Great Things With Their Lives Series
Contributed by Dag Heward-Mills on Jan 5, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus used his leadership to change nonentities into leaders who have changed and made a mark in history.
And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter; And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canannite, And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
Notice this list of men who were going nowhere until they met Jesus. Jesus led these people to accomplish great feats. He led them until they were anointed and became preachers.
Through the influence of Jesus, they laid the foundations of the Christian Church with their very lives. Most of them died in the process of laying the foundation of the Church. The leadership of Jesus had turned nonentities into great achievers.
If God has called you to lead, do not see it as just YOU accomplishing great things. See it as you helping others to accomplish great things for God and for themselves. That is a true leader’s heart. Leadership stems from the heart. The Bible teaches us that the heart is the footing for all the things that men do.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
No one can really train you to be a leader. It comes from your heart! It comes by having the right heart! When you have the right heart, you do the right things. Until you see the heart of a leader, you will not be a true leader. If you are the head of a church or organization and you try to suppress the achievements of others, I assure you that you do not have a true leader’s heart. Jesus wanted his disciples to do greater things than he himself had done (John 14:12).
I often pray for the junior pastors around me that they would achieve great things for God. I keep encouraging them and praying for them that they would rise up mightily in ministry. I see some people with gifts that I do not have. I want my interaction with these people to help them accomplish great things for God. Every leader should have goals for the people around him. If you do not have these goals I seriously doubt if you are a leader.
The Four Goals a Leader Should Have for His Followers
1. Aim for them to do well spiritually.
Your desire should be for the people you lead to prosper spiritually.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
2. Aim for your followers to do well financially.
I have a strong desire for the people who follow me to do well financially. It is my vision that everyone who works in my organization should have his own house, more cars than they need and enough money. This vision is steadily coming to pass. A leader is someone who thinks about others. If you just think about yourself, you are not a leader. Jesus thought about the financial state of his followers. He wanted them to have houses, lands and enough money. Many people don’t know that Jesus actually promised that his followers would have these things.
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Mark 10:29,30
3. Aim for your followers to be physically, socially and maritally healthy.
4.
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:23,24
Why did Jesus want the joy of his followers to be full? Because a good leader wants his followers to be happy in every aspect of their lives.
4. Aim for your followers to fulfil their ministry.
My greatest passion is to see the ones I have raised up fulfilling their ministries. Every father wants his sons and daughters to fulfil their ministry. If you are a leader, your vision and passion is not for yourself but for the ones you lead.
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
