Strong In Grace: A Message About Leadership

Today's baptism 

A balmy spring-like weekend has warmed a lot of us. Chuck Vanderscheuren, who just returned from a vacation in the Southwest, welcomed us today and told us about all the states he drove through and some of what he and Darlene saw.

Announcements
This Wednesday, Feb. 22, a membership class is meeting, for anyone interested in membership, or who would like to learn more about the Evangelical Covenant Church.
Friday March 24 there is a Youth gathering at the church from 7-11:30. Anyone interested in learning more about our programs for youth, contact Curt Fernandez. (218) 348-6109
We can use help by having people sign up to do the treats once in a while. Sign up sheet in the back.
Thursday at 2 p.m. some folk from our congregation will be singing at Viewcrest Nursing Home.
Small groups will be beginning soon. The first and third Sundays in March, April and May (with the exception of Easter.)
There will be a Game Night on March 10 from 6-9:00 p.m. Bring a game, a snack to share and a friend.

After sharing announcements Chuck told us it was Pastor Terry's birthday today, leading us all in singing the traditional happy birthday song. He then had the worship team join him to sing a verse of Worthy of Worship which we then joined in singing along with several additional hymns.

During the offering Natalie performed a gymnastic dance that was quite special. This was followed by a time of prayer.

The theme this month has been family, so it seemed the right time for a baptism. Scott and Cheyenne brought their son Brecken to be dedicated to the Lord.

Strong In Grace

Pastor Terry began by filling us in on last week's message.

Sometimes book titles say a lot, even when you don't read the book. Terry shared this example: Adventures in Missing the Point. Today's message used this book as its springboard: Canoeing in the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory. The imagery is of canoeing in places where there's not a lot of water. This was a problem for the early explorers who were trying to cross the Rockies. There were more challenges than they anticipated.

Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. It's a boxing metaphor, but applies to many times in our lives when the unexpected happens. We all have plans about raising kids, or many other things, but when reality hits us we can so easily feel sabotaged.

It's not about how things go wrong, but rather it's about how you react to what you run into that matters. When things don't happen the way you expect, will you become a tyrant and demand that things go your way, or will you become a leader?

II Timothy 2 is our passage today, which opens with the words, "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

What does strength look like?

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let's not become weary of doing good...." Strength means continuing in the good fight, persevering when it would be easier to give up.

This kind of strength has to do with my capacity to make something happen. "God's strength is made perfect in weakness." Strength is a quality of character that roots decisions in that which is for a great good.

Too often, when everything falls apart leaders look for a scapegoat. This is not what Paul was looking for in Timothy.

When the explorers were going through the mountains, how far did they carry their boats? How do you know how far to go? Is the better plan to abandon the boats and build more later, or hope for water to show up over the next pass? Or do we make camp and send out scouts?

There is no way to predict the way life will hand things to us. Leaders do not always have a clear vision of which path to take.

"Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus," Paul wrote.

Terry is reading A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in an Age of the Quick Fix. "I don't mean an autocrat who tells others what to do... I mean someone who is clear of his or her own life goals and assumes responsibility and maintains a non-anxious presence in the midst of crisis, a radical peace in the midst of emotionally charged issues."

The author talks about how healthy cells frequently get invaded by unhealthy cells, and leadership must become the immune system for the family. That is, leadership helps establish boundaries. The role of the immune system is to kill off what is unhealthy so that the healthy can thrive.

Terry then read verse 2: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others."

What does it look like to be so tight in Christ that we can step into uncharted territories as a leader? Notice how in the Old Testament all the battles Israel fought were executed in different ways. God doesn't want us to live by a formula. He wants us to recognize His voice and do what He asks us to do.

Patience

As a reminder of the greatness of the God we serve, in his opening greeting Pastor Shannon made note that the God in whose name we have gathered is the one who flung the universe into existence ex nihilo, which is to say He created everything out of nothing.

Before being ushered into worship by the quartet, there were several announcements including:
1. Sunday School will commence on September 14. There is still a need for three teachers including upper elementary thru high school.
2. An Adventure Club planning meeting will be held this coming Wednesday at the church.
3. The August 31 worship service will be held on Grand Lake at the home of Walt & Gwen Cressman, 4815 Kroll Road.

Today’s Scriptures:
Genesis 32:22-31
Matthew 14:13-21

Patience
Pastor Brad began the sermon today with a story about a woman who went ballistic when the car in front of her stopped at a traffic light rather than speed through the intersection on the yellow. Rolling down her window she began screaming obscenities and carrying on to such an extent that the man in the vehicle behind her walked up and had her arrested, bringing her to the station to be locked up. When the police apologetically released her two hours later, they said that with her car all covered with Praise the Lord bumper stickers and various Christian messages, the officer simply assumed by her behavior that the car had been stolen.

Whether true or simply designed to make a point while making us chuckle, the story illustrates the point that with or without bumper stickers, people know who we are and out behavior will be held to a higher standard because of it.

The real point Pastor Brad noted was that the woman’s impatience created a problem for her. And our impatience can likewise cause problems for us.

The series we are on is How to Love People. This week’s message is on patience. In I Corinthians 13, the Love chapter, Paul shows patience to be a pre-eminent virtue part of what it means to love. “Love is patient…”

There are two Greek words used for patience in the New Testament. The first is makrothumeo. If you break this word into its component parts, the word makro means long and thumeo is the word from which we derive the word thermometer. It conveys the notion of taking a long time to overheat.

The second NT word for patience is hupomone. Pastor Brad had intended to bring a backpack filled with rocks to illustrate this second word. Hupo means “to remain under” and mone conveys the notion of pressure, so that the two words mean “to remain under the pressure.” We patiently endure not for the sake of suffering for its own sake, but because it is the right thing to do.

And with these words in mind, Brad presented us with this definition of patience: “I take a long time to overheat, and endure patiently the unavoidable pressures of life.”

With these ideas in hand, we revisited the Old Testament story of David and Saul again. Saul started well, but when he deviated from God’s program, and persisted in this pattern of disobedience, God removed His anointing. (I Samuel 15)

In I Samuel 16 David is anointed for kingship, but it will be fourteen years before he becomes king. Why the wait? David had things to learn about thermometers and backpacks.

Saul had not ceased to be a free agent. He made choices, and was disobedient. But God nevertheless used Saul to accomplish His purposes in David.

Brad then told the story of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers. In spite of hardships, including years of imprisonment in Egypt, Joseph remained virtuous and trusted God. As it turns out circumstances resulted in the Pharaoh putting him in charge of the whole of Egypt. What a shock for his brothers when they go to Egypt for food due to the draught in their own homeland. These very brothers, who had sold Joseph into slavery and had forgotten him long ago, perhaps even believing him dead, expected him to put them to death. But Joseph wisely recognized “what you meant for evil, God meant for good.”

God is working out His purposes. In our own lives today, the disobedience and failings of others can work for good in our lives.

Returning to the story of Saul and David, the king even stooped so low as to use his own daughter as a lure in a scheme to get David killed. (vs 20) and when this has the undesired effect, he attempts to pin David to a wall with his spear.

But the character of David is revealed over and over again through circumstances. In chapter 24, while hiding out in a cave near Adullam, Saul enters that cave “to relieve himself.” It is an opportunity for David to eliminate his adversary. Instead, David cuts off a piece of Saul’s robe.

Two chapters later, David is handed another opportunity to slay the king while he sleeps. Abishai, David’s right hand man, says, “Surely God has delivered your enemy into your hands. I’ll pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear.” But David takes offense at such actions saying, “Don’t destroy him. Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?... The Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.”

Instead, David removes the spear and water jug that had been near Saul’s head. From across the river he calls to Abner, head of the king’s guard, and notes that he has done this, demonstrating that he had the opportunity yet again to put to death the man who had been persistently pursuing him. Even Saul is moved by this, and the army retreats from the chase.

And so, in summing up, Pastor asks, “Who or what is your Saul right now? Who is it that is pushing your buttons, trying your patience, making things difficult for you?

Three points were made from these stories. First, the Lord may be using another person or circumstances to develop you for a higher level of leadership. In James 1:2-4 the writer states, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” ~ The Message

Second, God does not want us to do anything wrong to relieve the pressure… that is, to remove the backpack of rocks. If you have to lie or cheat, this is not pleasing to God. God is asking you to stay till its purposes are fulfilled.

Third and finally, we can take much longer time to overheat when we trust God. When we trust Him, it enables us to be more patient because we know God is working out His plan for us, in us and through us.